


Lesson Learned

by TheSteinsGateFormula



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Bad Parenting, Bisexual Female Character, Class 3 E (Assassination Classroom), Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, Sister - Freeform, Twins, With a dash of dark humour to cope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 81
Words: 306,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22481986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSteinsGateFormula/pseuds/TheSteinsGateFormula
Summary: When they were seven they made a promise."It's just us now," Gakushuu said firmly, holding her hand tightly. "We can't rely on mom anymore and we can't trust dad." His gaze narrowed. "So we have to rely on each other."  He gripped his sister's hand tighter. "We can't trust anyone else."Mitsuko was hesitant, but the smash from downstairs made her tense. "...Just us?""Just us," he reiterated.
Relationships: OC/Nakamura Rio
Comments: 156
Kudos: 279





	1. She's just being overdramatic

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been done to death, but I'm a sucker for it. Plus, why can't I try to have a go at it? Nearly every original idea gets recycled so...I'm writing me some classic main character has a sister oc. Plus the Asanos are always fun to write.

In the city of Tokyo at 17:06 the fifteen-year-old Kunugigaoka student, Mitsuko, stared down at the river from the top of the city bridge.

Her dad couldn't murder her if she was already dead, right?

She swallowed a lump in her throat and gripped the railing tighter. "Maybe it's not that bad of a drop..." Mitsuko stomach churned. "Maybe everything would be easier if—?"

"Um, young lady, are you alright?"

Mitsuko felt a flash of irritation.

A random man was looking at her in confusion as a crowd of people walked by and went about their business.

"Did you drop something?" He asked.

"DO YOU MIND!!?" Mitsuko snapped, making him jerk back when she turned around and glared. "You're ruining my moment!"

"Well, geez sorry for being concerned!!" The man yelled back.

"Well mind your own business next time!"

"What the hell is your problem?!"

"Ugh, forget it." Mitsuko groaned and started to walk away. "The moment's past."

"Fine!" The man scowled as he watched her leave. "Geez, get some help, kid!"

* * *

Mitsuko sighed, dragging her feet as she continued her walk home. The city was packed with people, much too many people and the traffic was terrible.

"I'm just overreacting about this..." she told herself, sighing again. "He might not even be that mad..."

She paused in the middle of the pavement and hung her head and silently dry sobbed while a number of people walking passed shot perplexed glances at the girl with strawberry blonde hair.

A loud ring from her phone made her tense and lookup.

Mitsuko hesitantly looked at her phone, relaxing slightly when she saw it was just Rio calling. Her stomach fluttered as her thumb hovered over the green icon on the screen.

Then the memories of the previous weeks came flooding back, making her chest ache.

She declined the call and hastily stuffed the phone back in her pocket.

* * *

Mitsuko slowly inserted her key into the door, biting her tongue as she carefully turned the key to open it.

She nearly sighed in relief when the door didn't creak. The hallway was dim since most of the curtains and blinds were closed, but it was also silent.

Mitsuko hesitated before she opened the door fully and stepped in, closing it gradually behind her as she slipped off her shoes off.

She cringed as the door softly clicked shut.

The house was still silent.

She closed her eyes let out a deep breath she'd been holding in.

"Would you like some tea, Mitsuko?"

Mitsuko screamed and hit her back against the door.

Principal Asano stared at her blankly from where he'd suddenly appeared in the middle of the hallway.

Mitsuko's throat was dry, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. "Uh...I...?"

He looked at her like she was braindead.

She closed her eyes and hastily pulled herself together, standing up straight, as she cleared her throat and then coughed. "Excuse me?"

"Tea?" He repeated. "I just made a fresh batch. Come." He smiled pleasantly and started to walk towards the kitchen.

"Oh, right..." Mitsuko placed her school bag on the hook and followed him.

Sure enough, there was a steaming tea pot on the breakfast table with two tea cups out.

Mitsuko gulped and sat down opposite him as he poured her cup first. "...Where's Gakushuu?"

"I believe he's preoccupied with some extracurricular or another."

"Oh..." She crossed her arms as she watched him warily. "And mom?"

"Out," he replied curtly, pouring his own tea next.

She looked down, gripping her cup tightly. "...Okay."

The Principal took a long sip of his drink while he stared at her.

Mitsuko gulped down some of her tea trying to smother her anxiety. "The tea is nice." The green tea was a familiar Matcha blend, but there was a slight over-sweetness to the taste. "As charming as this all this, why are we doing this?"

He drank another obnoxiously long sip before he placed the cup down. "So abrupt." He smiled coldly. "Your brother would have at least kept some pretence for another five minutes or so."

With some struggle, she maintained eye contact. "I...I'm sorry for disappointing you, sir," she said with great difficulty, feeling her stomach churn. "I failed and I'll accept whatever punishment you deem fit." Her hands were clammy. "But I did study, and I tried, sir, but when I sat down and started the test I..." She started to feel sick from dread. "I panicked and—"

"That would be a large understatement, wouldn't you say?" He interjected calmly.

Mitsuko cringed, tasting bile in her mouth. "I..."

"I admit I'd actually become quite complacent with your mediocrity," he continued smoothly. "But you actually managed to surprise me by becoming an even bigger disappointment than I'd anticipated."

She started to sweat and felt her mouth grow dry. "The r—" She coughed badly and drank to ease her throat, but it did as much good as scraping sandpaper along her throat."I can explain what happened."

He sipped his tea leisurely. "Really?"

The dread in her stomach was growing. "I had a panic attack during the first test," she admitted, looking down. "And then...after that they wouldn't stop." She clenched her hands tightly, feeling her skin prickle uncomfortably. "I think maybe...Uh..." She looked up. "Maybe if I could get some medication—?"

"Even this is being a tad overdramatic for you, Mitsuko." He arched an eyebrow. " _Medication?_ Honestly?"

She winced, wanting the floor to swallow her whole.

The Principal finished drinking and placed the cup down. "I've told you countless times, Mitsuko," he said coldly. "It doesn't matter how or why you failed. The only thing that matters is _that_ you failed." He leaned back slightly and clasped his hands on the table. "I'm transferring you to E Class at the start of term."

Her stomach lurched like she's been punched in the gut.

"No," her voice strained. "You can't do that," she said firmly like it was true. "You...you can't."

He smiled at her like she was an idiot.

Mitsuko felt like screaming and wanted to hurl the teapot at him.

She might as well have been a fly a web, no amount of begging or explaining was going to fix this and make her any less of a failure.

"I don't belong there."

He tilted his head. "Your grades say otherwise."

"It was a mistake!" she snapped, jumping to her feet. She grasped the edge of the table when she stumbled forward, feeling nauseous.

"The rules are non-negotiable, you know that." The corner of his lip twisted into a faint smile. "No exceptions."

Mitsuko glared at him. "I hate—" She felt a sharp twist of pain and winced, clutching her stomach. "Ugh..."

"Oh, yes, I nearly forgot." He looked amused, standing up. "I slipped some Ipecac into your tea."

Her eyes widened. "W-what?!"

"I whipped up a small batch yesterday."

Mitsuko felt her throat burn as the tea made its way back up. "Uhh." She spat on the floor, trembling as she fell to her knees.

The Principal stepped around her and removed a bucket from the cupboard underneath the sink.

"I suggest you use this. Your mother only just polished the floor yesterday."

Mitsuko willed her tears back as she felt a scorching wave of hatred for her father.

"I hate you," she hissed, raising her gaze to glare at him.

He dangled the bucket above her. "Excuse me?"

Rage flashed in her eyes. "I HATE YOU!!" She screamed and then snapped her mouth closed to swallow back some vomit. "Fuck."

"Do you recognise that feeling, Mitsuko, that burning sensation easing up from your stomach and along your throat?" he questioned lightly.

She grabbed the bucket and vomited into it.

The sound reverberated around the kitchen.

"I want you to remember that feeling every time you fail," he continued, looming over her as the drug did its work. "That is my lesson to you."

Mitsuko retched into the bucket, puking up her lunch in one go.

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update* I finally worked out how to post images on this site


	2. Things could be worse

_They made a promise when they were seven._

Mitsuko hid in the closet with her brother, there was barely any light and it was quiet, with the sound of their mom's shouting muffled by the walls and the closet door.

She clutched her trophy against her chest. "...What do you think he's saying to her?" she whispered, resting her head on Gakushuu's shoulder.

Her brother shrugged, having a blank, almost emotionless, look on his face.

"He's probably just ignoring her like always..." he replied softly, staring numbly at the door. "It'll be over soon."

"But, I wanted to show them my trophy," she mumbled, shrinking against the wall.

"Show them later," her brother snapped impatiently.

There was another yell from their mom.

Mitsuko closed her eyes, gripping her brother tighter. "Why does she have to be so angry all the time?"

Gakushuu scowled. "It doesn't matter."

"What?" She inched back slightly.

"It's just us now," her brother said firmly, holding her hand tightly. "We can't rely on mom anymore and we can't trust dad." His gaze narrowed. "So we have to rely on each other." He gripped his sister's hand tighter. "We can't trust anyone else."

Mitsuko was hesitant, but the smash from downstairs made her flinch. "...Just us?"

"Just _us_ ," he reiterated.

She sighed deeply, looking down. "...Okay."

He gave her a small smile. "Good."

The house was silent for a long moment when all the yelling suddenly stopped.

Mitsuko's throat was dry, sitting up, she stared at the door. "What do you—?"

She flinched when the closet door opened, blinding them with the sudden light.

Their father's shadow loomed over as he stared down at them with a detached look.

Gakushuu narrowed his gaze at the man while Mitsuko dug her nails into her brother's shoulder.

"...W-where's mom?" she asked hesitantly.

Their father tilted his head down at her for a moment. "Downstairs. Dinner's ready," he said curtly, and then turned away from them, walking out of the bedroom.

Mitsuko shared a look with her brother before they both cautiously got off the floor and followed their father.

Their mother was downstairs, and so was dinner as well, with their father already sat down in his seat eating.

Both their parents were ignoring the large wine stain on the kitchen wall and the broken bottle shattered on the tiles.

Mitsuko fiddled with the silver trophy in her hands as she sat down, unsure whether to keep it out of sight.

Her mother noticed it when the light caught the silver. "What do you have there?"

She smiled hesitantly. "Um...I got second place in the spelling B today." She straightened up and raised the trophy up to view.

Her father tilted his head as he stared down at her.

Her smile wavered, holding up the small silver trophy.

Gakushuu was sitting opposite her, poking at his string beans.

"Oh..." Mom quickly became disinterested. "Well, that's nice, dear," she said while her finger traced the outline of her wineglass.

"Not first place?" her father asked lightly.

She lowered the trophy to her lap. "Um...well..."

Her mom sighed. "Gakuhou, do you really have to do this now?" She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Let it go."

Their father raised an eyebrow at his wife, before he glanced down at Mitsuko. "I was only asking because I was curious how you could be so calm about it, Mitsuko?"

"C-calm?" Mitsuko's brow furrowed.

"You seem so willing to accept your failure." His eyes looked strange in the dim light. "And, allow those stronger to humiliate you." He smiled coldly. " _Are_ you proud of your failure?" His gaze narrowed at the trophy on her lap.

She flinched, gripping the small trophy tighter. "Um..."

Gakushuu looked back and forth between her and their father.

Their mother groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I can't believe you." She stood up and took her plate. "You can do the dishes tonight," she said, taking her glass with her. "I'll be in the in the living room."

Their father didn't reply or even acknowledge she'd spoken. "Well, Mitsuko?"

Mitsuko was pale, with shaking hands. "I..." She winced. "No, I'm not proud!" She felt tears prickle in her eyes. "I just..." she trailed off, staring at the trophy in her lap.

"Then why would you want to be reminded of your failure?" her father asked smoothly.

She knew he was looking at the trophy again, this small piece of fake silver. Mitsuko swallowed a bad taste in her mouth. Suddenly the shiny silver just appeared like cheap junk, second hand.

_Failure._

Mitsuko slipped off her seat and ran over to the kitchen bin, tossing the trophy inside, and then she ran back to her seat, afraid to look back.

Gakushuu's eyes were wide and cautious, but their father's gaze held the faintest signs of approval.

* * *

Mitsuko stabbed her pencil into the crappy wooden desk while Ms Yukimura gave another motivational speech while making references to how being positive was important and...

Mitsuko sighed and closed her eyes; she'd stopped listening ten minutes ago when she realised Ms Yukimura's speech wouldn't help her on the actual Japanese exam.

"Um, excuse me?" A boy behind her whispered hesitantly.

She scowled looked over her shoulder.

The boy had strangely light violet hair and was hunched over his desk.

Who was he again?

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Um, can I borrow a pen? Mine kind of..." There was black ink splattered on the edge of his desk and a broken pen next to the dark stain; there was a notepad on top of his books with a few sketches already illustrated.

How did he even break it?

Her lips thinned disapprovingly. "...Alright." She turned around and lifted the lid of her desk, taking out a spare blue pen. "Just don't break this one," she couldn't help but comment, handing it over.

His smile grew sheepish. "I promise. Thanks," he whispered, looking down at his notepad.

Mitsuko eyed him for a moment before she turned back around. She stiffened when she saw Rio staring.

_What did she want?_

Her gaze narrowed, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

Rio shifted uncomfortably and quickly turned around.

Mitsuko's stomach churned, but she tried to smother her discomfort and looked out of the window.

* * *

 _F_ _our_ _years prior the present day..._

"Mitsuko!"

The strawberry blonde looked up from her work.

A blonde girl was perched on the desk next to hers. The classroom was empty bar them.

"What?" Mitsuko raised an eyebrow.

Rio grinned. "Let's go do karaoke after school!"

Mitsuko blinked owlishly. "Karaoke?"

"Yeah! It'll be great," she replied, sliding off the desk. "And, we can find cute boys!"

"B-boys?" Mitsuko blushed. "Uh..."

Rio's smile grew crooked, latching onto her sheepishness. "Maybe Sakikabara will be there too."

"S-shut up!" Mitsuko's face grew red. "I can't I'm...ugh, you know I have Cram school," she added quickly, looking away.

"Come on!" Rio pleaded, pouting. "When was the last time we both took a break?"

Mitsuko chewed her tongue, staring at her desk. "I really need to study, Rio..."

" _Please,_ Mitsu-chan," Rio's voice softened, touching her shoulder.

Mitsuko's turned away to hide her blush as her chest fluttered. "Um..." She hastily tried to bury the strange feelings and smiled shyly. "...Okay, but only for a bit..."

Rio grinned brighter than the sun. "Thank you!" She hugged her. "You're the best!"

Mitsuko squirmed uncomfortably and tried to push her off. "O-okay great! Now can you get off me, please?!!"

* * *

"Asano-san?" Ms Yukimura was speaking.

Mitsuko jerked her gaze from the window and looked up. The room was oddly silent...

The pen she'd lent that boy was resting on the edge of her desk.

"It's time to go home," Ms Yukimura said kindly, smiling. For some reason, she was wearing a white lab coat.

Mitsuko's cheeks flushed when she realised the room was empty. "Oh..." She quickly stood up. "Sorry!" She grabbed hastily stuffed her pen and books into her bag.

Ms Yukimura grinned. "Don't be! It's fine," she replied, batting away the apology. "I'm always zoning out! Especially at work...oh, the earful I get..." Her smile faltered for a second, but returned quickly. "I hope at least you heard me assign the homework?"

Mitsuko quickly looked at the board, but it was blank. "Uh...no, sorry."

Her teacher shrugged it off and clasped her hands together. "I just want you to write a short poem, nothing too deep, just one haiku."

_Simple enough._

Mitsuko nodded, pulling her bag over her shoulder. "I'll have it in first thing." Then her gaze trailed over her teacher's lab coat. "Uh, what's with the lab gear?"

"Oh..." Ms Yukimura looked herself over. "Well, I need to rush over to my other job soon so I won't have time to go home and change."

"You have _two_ jobs?" Mitsuko arched a brow. "I knew my dad was cheap but..."

Ms Yukimura laughed. "Oh, no. I get paid enough, don't worry!" she replied, rubbing her neck sheepishly. "It's a weird situation but...I work with my fiancé." Her tone dimmed a fraction, as did her smile.

"Oh, well, that must be nice," Mitsuko said, smiling politely.

Ms Yukimura gave a strained laugh. "It has its challenges but..." A soft look washed over her face. "Some things about it are worth it..."

Mitsuko looked around, feeling awkward. "That's good."

"Anyway." Ms Yukimura smiled brightly again. "Are you settling in alright?"

Mitsuko tensed. "Yes. Why?"

Her teacher's smile wavered. "I just haven't seen you interact with your classmates much, that's all," she replied, clasping her hands together. "I know adjusting can be hard, but new experiences aren't as bad as they seem."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Yeah...sure."

Ms Yukimura's smile faded. "I'm serious." She gave her a soft look. "You can't let a few setbacks get you down."

_You call this a few?_

Mitsuko forced a smile. "Thanks, Ms Yukimura, I appreciate it." She edged away from her. "Well, I better go...my brother's probably waiting for me at the bottom of the mountain..."

"Oh, of course." Ms Yukimura smiled apologetically and stepped back.

Mitsuko walked away from her desk. "See you tomorrow."

"You too!"

Mitsuko rushed out of the classroom without so much as a look back.

By the time she'd made it down the mountain—avoided a few snakes and the odd mudslide—Gakushuu was tapping his foot impatiently while he leaned against a tree.

"You're late." He didn't even bother to look up.

She narrowed her eyes, breathing heavily still. "You try running down a mountain!"

He rolled his eyes and straightened up. "Don't be so dramatic." He turned around. "Now come on, mom wants us to pick up groceries on the way, and I have soccer at six."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, walking over to him. "You didn't have to wait for me," she replied stiffly, re-adjusting her bag.

Her brother glanced over his shoulder. "So you expect me to carry the groceries all by myself?"

"Pfft, I'm sure you could handle it." She hurried to catch up with him; he was a head taller than her which gave him something of an advantage in speed. "Is mom going out again?"

A displeased look found its way onto his face again. "Yes."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, figures." She stretched her arms while she walked alongside him. "So, what are we having for dinner then? I'm sick of ramen."

Gakushuu kept his gaze ahead. "Then learn to cook better."

She scowled. "My cooking's fine... you're just a food snob."

Her brother raised an eyebrow but made no comment. "Hm. So how was class?" he asked pleasantly.

Her scowl deepened. "Shut up."

"What? I'm genuinely curious." The smirk on his face said otherwise.

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes, shifting her bag. "It was fine. Same as usual."

Gakushuu hummed dismissively. "The sooner you get out of there the better," he said curtly, making her tense. "We just need to work on your revision technique; _clearly_ you're doing something wrong."

_Tactful as ever..._

She bit down on her tongue, glaring at the ground.

"Mitsuko? Are you listening?"

Mitsuko sighed. " _Yes_." She shot him an irritated look. "Now can we talk about it later?"

Her brother's lips thinned. "... _Fine_."

She grimaced at his tone. "I'm sorry." She glanced over her shoulder at the mountain. "I just miss A-class..."

Gakushuu's expression softened a little bit. "You'll be back after mid-terms."

She snorted. "Dad doesn't think so."

Her brother's eyes narrowed. "Then prove him wrong."

"Yeah, sure..."Mitsuko gently touched her throat, swallowing anxiously. "So when are you back tonight?"

He shrugged. "Late." Then he frowned faintly. "Why?"

"No reason..." She crossed her arms when a cold breeze hit her. "I was just hoping you'd be home early for a change."

Her brother stopped and turned to her. "What's going on?"

"What?" she exclaimed. "I was just asking."

He stared at her blankly. "Why do you want me to come home early?"

Mitsuko wanted to bash her head against a tree. "I..." She grimaced. "Okay, listen, just don't get mad—"

His gaze narrowed. "What did he do?"

"Okay, first, you need to stop jumping to conclusions," she told him matter-of-factly. "Secondly, I'm not going to tell you if you're going to do something stupid."

" _Mitsuko_." Gakushuu crossed his arms.

"Just, don't overreact." She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

He scowled. "Alright, I won't."

Mitsuko sighed again. "Okay, fine...so you know how when we got our results for finals I _may_ have taken longer than usual to get home."

"Yes," he replied warily.

"Well...when you and mom were out, dad may have..." She cringed, smiling grimly. "Druggedmyteawithipecac," she mumbled quickly.

"What?"

She groaned, running a hand through her hair. "He kind of drugged my tea with ipecac..." she told him.

Her brother's gaze glinted dangerously. "He did _what_?"

Mitsuko sighed and rubbed her arms. "I mean, it could have been worse..." She shrugged. "And the kitchen did stink for a whole week, so who's _really_ the loser in all of this—?"

"Stop trying to be funny," he snapped. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

She shifted uneasily. "Well, you were busy...and besides, what good would it have done?" Mitsuko argued, shrugging. "You know how dad can get sometimes...listen, it's my fault for not facing him sooner, then maybe he would have been less angry or...I don't know."

"It's not your fault," Gakushuu said firmly

"Well..." She avoided his gaze. "Listen, it doesn't matter," she reassured him, shrugging again. "It's in the past." She forced a smile. "I'm fine now."

Gakushuu's glare didn't soften and his whole posture was still tense. "If he ever does that again, tell me straight away. Do you understand?"

 _"Yes_ ," she replied in exasperation. "I know I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry."

"Good." He sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I can't cancel my schedule," he told her bluntly, making her grimace. "But I'm not letting you out of my sight, so come on," he ordered, walking ahead. "You're coming to soccer practice with me."

The corner of her lip twitched upwards as she followed after him. " _Seriously?_ Are you sure I won't embarrass you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just don't flirt with my teammates again."

She smiled crookedly, feeling a rush of happiness. "I wouldn't _dream_ of doing that, Gaku-nii."

* * *

"Wooo! YEAH! SCORE!" Mitsuko wolf-whistled from the sidelines when the stocky boy, Fujimori, scored a goal against her brother's team. "Nice goal, Fujimori!!"

"Uh...thanks..." Fujimori went bright red when his teammates laughed.

Gakushuu groaned in irritation. "Shut up, Mitsuko!" He intercepted the ball and kicked it to his teammate. "Ignore her!"

She grinned wickedly, clapping as the group of boys played against each other. Mitsuko kept quiet for a while, while they played, looking up at the night sky. The lights from the pitch made it difficult to see the stars but the moon was out in full tonight.

She smiled faintly when she watched her brother practice with his team, feeling content. Things weren't all bad, Gakushuu was still on her side, and the students in E Class weren't as bad as she'd anticipated.

"Maybe, Ms Yukimura does have the right idea..."

Her smile wavered when a bright light caught her attention.

"What the hell?!!" One of the boys yelled, as the others froze and looked up at the sky.

Mitsuko ran to her brother's side as they all looked up at the sky. "Holy shit!"

There was a yell as just like that, nearly 75% of the moon was gone.

Mitsuko gaped as a crescent moon glowed in the sky.


	3. She's clearly doing something wrong

There was a mutated yellow octopus standing in front of the room.

"How do you do?" the octopus in a teacher's robe said.

There was a freaking mutated yellow octopus standing in front of the room!

Mitsuko's jaw dropped.

"I'm the one who tore that chunk out of your moon," the...the _thing_ said oh so calmly. "I plan to do the same to the Earth next year. But until then, I'll be your teacher. Nice to meet you!"

The whole of E Class could do nothing but watch on in horror.

Mitsuko squeaked, with wide violet eyes unable to look away from the _thing_.

_What was happening!?_

Then suddenly a dark, spiky, haired man stepped forward. "I'm Karasuma," he introduced himself. "From the Ministry of Defence. First, please understand what I'm about to say is classified information." His composer slipped for a second when he sighed wearily. "Let me be blunt/clear: I want you to kill this creature."

Mitsuko found her voice in the form of one important word.

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"How could you agree to this?" Mitsuko snapped when it was just her and her father in the limo; her brother was still overseeing a student council meeting.

Her father raised an eyebrow. "I was only thinking of our country's best interests at heart," he replied insincerely with an equally fake smile to match. "The...Target, was very determined to teach at this specific school, so their hands were tied." He looked out of the tinted windows, crossing his legs. "I've been assured that no harm will befall yourself and your classmates."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, sure..." She dug her nails into her palms.

_Because that would just eat you up inside, right?_

Her father smiled pleasantly. "Of course, this is all top secret, so your brother and mother aren't to be made aware of any of it."

A bad taste was in her mouth. "I don't like keeping secrets from him..." She glared at the floor. "...He'll find out eventually."

His smile tightened, with dark shadows underneath his eyes. "But, he won't hear a word of it from you," he said, as his smile faded when his gaze narrowed. "Do I make myself clear?"

She shivered, swallowing a thick lump in her throat. "...Yes, sir."

The bright smile was back in an instant. "Wonderful! I'm so glad you understand." His smile grew crooked at the edges. "Perhaps if you play your cards right, you'll be out of E Class before the end of the term."

Mitsuko's gaze lit up. "What?"

Her father clasped his hands on his knee. "Score in the top ten and I might just consider bringing you back to A Class..."

He dangled the offer like a golden apple, just out of reach.

An ugly feeling twisted in her gut.

Her mouth was dry when she swallowed, looking up. "Really?"

He tilted his head, scrutinising her like she was a fly in his web. "As failure should be punished, success should be rewarded." The Principal reasoned, smiling to himself. "After all, Gakushuu seemed so displeased by your transfer..."

Mitsuko dug her fingers into her thighs, trying to keep composer. "I know..."

* * *

Mitsuko breathed in a deep breath before she made her way down the stairs. She straightened her tie and tugged at the end of her skirt before she walked into the kitchen where her brother and father were already sat down.

Mom was washing up some pans, having finished making breakfast; her light hair was tied up for a change and there were fewer bags under her eyes.

_I guess last night was a good night._

Mitsuko glanced over at her seat in-between the Principal and Gakushuu. Her breakfast was already laid out with a glass of orange juice in its usual place.

"...Morning," she said, walking over to her seat.

None of them looked up.

"Morning," Gakushuu replied dully, taking a bite of his eggs.

The Chairman lowered the newspaper he was reading to glance at her. "I trust you both have a full schedule today?"

"Yes." She and her brother replied stiffly.

The Principal smiled blandly. "With some minor adjustments to yours, Mitsuko?"

Mitsuko held her fork tighter. "Yes."

E Class students were limited, if not all out banned, with extracurricular activities. The only ones of hers that had managed to survive the purge was volunteer tutoring at the local Cram School, Physical Training with Gakushuu, and a few volunteer charity work functions.

That left nearly a whole _5 hours_ of free time on some days in the week, not counting the weekend. She'd never had so much free time on her hands, it made her feel restless.

_I need a real hobby._

"Then it looks like you'll have even more time to get your grades up." The Principal had returned to his newspaper.

It was almost like he'd read her thoughts.

"I suppose so," she replied dully, not rising to the bait.

"What's your new teacher like anyway?" Gakushuu spoke up, surprising her; not much talk ever happened during these meals. Even their mom paused and looked over.

Mitsuko tensed. "Um...excuse me?"

Her brother arched an eyebrow while their father lowered his newspaper a fraction.

"Your new teacher, since Ms Yukimura disappeared," Gakushuu said shrewdly, narrowing his eyes. "Or do they not have a name?"

_Does Mr Target count?_

She quickly tried to regain her cool and rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous of course he does." She stuffed some eggs into her mouth to buy her time and sent her father a sharp look.

Their father smiled pleasantly. "I believe Mr Karasuma is his name."

Mitsuko nodded, swallowing down her rice and egg in one gulp.

Gakushuu clasped his hands on the table. "Then why hasn't he been to any assemblies?"

"He's busy." She shrugged, dabbing her mouth with a napkin. "He spends a lot of time grading our test results, plus he has a lot to catch up on since he's a late starter."

Her brother's brow furrowed as he looked back at her and the Principal, trying to suss out the lie. "Oh, really?" He leaned back, keeping his gaze on Mitsuko.

Mitsuko made sure she didn't look away. "Why do you even care what the teacher's like? It's not like it's going to make a difference."

Gakushuu scrutinised them both—his right eye twitched involuntarily, something he tended to do when angry or irritated in a way he couldn't verbally express.

Their mom gave a deep sigh, looking irritated. "Can you all go _one_ breakfast without being hostile?"

The Principal sipped his coffee. "It's just friendly banter, dear."

Gakushuu and Mitsuko didn't look like they agreed.

Mrs Asano scowled, shaking her head. "Just hurry up, or you'll be late."

"Doubtful..." Mitsuko muttered, poking at her breakfast with her fork.

* * *

Even if it wasn't technically real, the gun still felt heavy in her hand.

Mitsuko's brow creased as she stared at it, alone in the trees and out of sight from her classmates.

She pointed the gun at the tree and emptied three rounds into the trunk. The pellets bounced off like rubber.

Mitsuko narrowed her gaze and fired again, trying to hit the same exact spot three times at once.

The pellets never hit the same spot twice.

She gritted her teeth and lowered the gun.

"Not a bad shot."

She whipped around with her gun raised.

The yellow mutated octopus who called himself their teacher was leaning against a tree.

Her gaze narrowed. "Oh, it's you." She lowered her gun.

"Oh, aren't you even going to try to shoot me!" He whined, bouncing over to her side.

She regarded him coldly. "You can move at Mach 20 speed, so what's the point?"

He paused, eyeing her with interest. "Well, now that doesn't mean you shouldn't try." He heaved a deep sigh. "Come on, I'll even give you a few free hits!" He started bopping around her teasingly. "Come on, give me your best shot!"

Mitsuko's fingers twitched towards the trigger. "I..." She gritted her teeth. "I can't!" she snapped, making the target freeze. "I'm not good enough yet." She examined her gun methodically. "I'll just miss if I shoot you now."

He hummed, stopping in front of her. "Oh. So you're a patient lying in wake kinda killer, huh?" He grinned, waving his tentacles around. "A good strategy than any, _but_...." He pointed at her. "Whether you miss or not is unimportant, what's important is that you understand _why_ you missed and then learn from it."

Mitsuko crossed her arms. "Why would I needlessly humiliate myself?" She frowned up at him. "A better strategy would be to study how the others have failed so that I can develop a perfect strategy." She turned away from him and looked over at the Old Campus.

He slipped in front of her again. "You'd have better luck if you worked with your classmates." He crossed his tentacles. "Remember, this mission is a team effort."

Her brow furrowed. "With all due respect, sir, I doubt they'd help me," she replied stiffly, folding her arms. "And, I don't need their help anyway."

"Hm, oh, really?" Her teacher rubbed his round chin. "And you're going to execute this hypothetical master plan all on your own?"

She paused, chewing her tongue. "I guess...I will need help."

"Bingo!" He waved colourful flags in the air. "And I'm sure the others could use your help for any assassinations they have planned."

"I doubt they'd help..." she replied, frowning.

"Have you asked?"

She blushed faintly, looking down. "No..."

The Target chuckled. "Then it might be worth asking."

* * *

Inside the classroom, at a table near the back, Mitsuko was about to enjoy her lunch when a rough, and clearly unrefined, voice interrupted her peace.

"That's _our_ spot." It was Terasaka.

She sighed deeply and arched an eyebrow as she looked up. "Excuse me?"

Terasaka had a mean expression on his face, tagged by his two friends Yoshida and Muramatsu.

 _"We're_ eating lunch here." Terasaka jerked his thumb towards himself to reiterate.

Mitsuko blinked slowly. "Well, that's unfortunate." She wrapped some noodles around her fork.

His face scrunched up, glaring down at her. "You still think you're in Class A, _Princess_?" he said, angrily, balling his hands into fists. "I hate to break it to you, but you're down at the bottom just like the rest of us." His lips twisted into a crooked smile. "So you better get your head out of your ass."

She narrowed her eyes, gripping her fork tighter. The classroom was mainly empty since their teacher had taken a quick trip to Australia for Lunch. Takebayashi was at a far corner reading with Okuda, and Shiota was sitting at his desk with his lunch already out. The other students were either outside because they'd finished their lunch or were doing some cleaning in another part of the building.

Mitsuko noticed Shiota was looking over with concern, but she doubted he'd do anything, and even if he did, Terasaka could easily beat him.

She took a measured forkful of noodles into her mouth and chewed slowly.

"Are you deaf, Asano?" Terasaka gritted his teeth. "Move."

She swallowed and dabbed the edge of her mouth with a napkin. " _No_."

He tensed, faltering. "What—? Just move!" he snapped, slamming his hand on the table.

Shiota had stood up, and Takebayashi and Okuda were looking over as well.

Mitsuko tensed but forced herself to stay put.

She glared up at him, her gaze sharp and cold. "Are you going to make me?"

Terasaka stiffened, a visible sweat drop sliding down his forehead. "I..."

Mitsuko smiled thinly, poking at her food as she kept her eyes focussed on him. "I'd hate for you to get expelled for assault charges, especially with witnesses around," she said lightly, arching an eyebrow. "It would be unfortunate."

Terasaka gaped for a second or two before he shook his head and glared. "You..." he gritted his teeth. His friends behind him shared an uneasy look. "F-fine, be an uptight bitch!" he snapped, moving away. "Come on let's just eat outside, this dump stinks anyway."

She held in a sigh of relief when she watched them leave.

"Are you okay?" Shiota was standing in front of her.

Mitsuko gave him a cold look. "Why wouldn't I be, Shiota?"

_It's not like any of you guys stepped in to help._

"Um, I prefer Nagisa..." He grimaced, averting his gaze. "Sorry about not...Terasaka can be pretty hot-headed but it's mainly just talk."

"Yeah, I know the type." She shrugged. "Then again he's not exactly high on the IQ scale, or ranking on that matter."

Nagisa's frown deepened. "Well, rank doesn't matter much around here."

Her shoulders tightened like rusted springs. "I did notice..."

He stared at her intently for a moment, making her frown. "You don't think much of us, do you?" 

Mitsuko pursed her lips briefly. "It's nothing personal." She glanced over at Okuda and Takebayashi for a second, feeling cornered. "I just don't belong here."

Nagisa's raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, well, that's not surprising with your attitude," he said bluntly.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "I—"

"You're not doing yourself any favours being anti-social." Nagisa's brow furrowed. "If you really want to prove your worth you'd help us take out the Target. Actions speak louder than words you know."

Mitsuko was struck silent, choking on her own words. "I..."

Nagisa smiled and shook his head. "We're planning an attack pretty soon, just ask if you wanna be in on it," he said, turning away.

Her eyes widened, feeling a rush of embarrassment.

* * *

Isogai was surprisingly easy to approach; he was nearly always polite and friendly, with some good academic chops to add to as well.

Mitsuko walked over to his desk after the fifth period ended and their teacher had zoomed off to go buy some exotic dessert treat from Norway or Germany.

The dark-haired boy was busy packing his things away when she cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Isogai."

He looked slightly surprised before he smiled politely. "Oh, hi, Asano," he replied, resting his bag on the desk.

She frowned. "Asano's more, my brother, I prefer Mitsuko."

"Oh, sorry," Isogai apologised sheepishly. "I'm still getting to know everyone's name preferences."

"It's fine," Mitsuko said uncomfortably.

"Is there something you wanted?"

She swallowed her pride and held her head higher. "Shi—Nagisa mentioned something about the latest assassination plot you're brewing," she said curtly. "So I decided to lend a hand."

"Oh..." His brow rose. "You wanna help?"

_"Yes."_

"Okay, then." Isogai smiled, standing up. "It's a pretty simple plan but it's something at least."

Mitsuko nodded, surprised it was that easy. "I'd love to hear it."

* * *

"Damn it!" Mitsuko hissed when she missed her target.

She'd made a yellow smiley-faced target board and tacked it to her bedroom wall.

The pellets wouldn't hit the same spot twice.

"It has to be perfect." She lowered her gun and scowled, picking up one of the green knives instead.

When she threw it, the point hit the centre dead on, and the same went for the second and third throw.

Mitsuko glared at the gun in her other hand. "Why couldn't it be a knife battle...knife battles, I can do." She rolled her eyes. "Not as effective but..." She sighed, tossing the anti-sensei knife on her bed. "At least I wouldn't be humiliated."

There was a sharp knock on her door. "Mitsuko?"

It was Gakushuu.

She tensed, and hastily leapt over to her bed to hide the gun and knife. "Uh, yes?!?"

The door opened.

She ripped the poster off in a flash and hid it under her pillow with the knife and gun.

"Who are you talking to?" Her brother scrutinised her room.

She tried to casually lay on her pillow like she hadn't just jumped onto her bed. "Excuse me?"

Gakushuu narrowed his gaze at her. "Were you talking to yourself?"

Mitsuko huffed, flipping her hair out of her face. "Obviously," she replied curtly. "Why? Don't you?"

Her brother stared at her for a long moment. "...Why are you acting weird?"

She scoffed, sitting on top of her pillow. "I'm not the one acting weird, Gaku-nii," she said, dismissively. "If you just came here to be paranoid, then leave."

Her brother's lips thinned. "You were acting weird at breakfast too." He levelled her with a stern glare. "You're keeping something from me."

Mitsuko's stomach churned. "I was just talking to myself. I mean...it's not like I have any friends to talk to." She tried to sew the lie with the truth. "I'm not keeping anything from you. Why are you being like this?".

His gaze softened a fraction. "Because something feels off," he said, walking over to the bed. "The Chairman is up to something." Her brother smiled coldly. "And if I— _we_ ever want to collar him, I'll need all the information I can get."

She shifted on the pillow and nodded. "I know..." She buried her guilt and reached out to hold his hand. "And if I had any blackmail, you know I'd tell you..."

_It wasn't like it was a complete lie..._

Gakushuu stared at her sharply, scrutinising every detail of her face to detect a lie. "...You're right." His stare lost its sharp edge, as he squeezed her hand. "But, you have been acting a little strange."

Mitsuko gave a strained chuckle. "I guess it is obvious." She averted her gaze. "It's just...things in Class E are a little...strained."

His gaze sharpened. "Have they harassed you?"

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle." She smiled crookedly. "But, I guess it isn't helping that I haven't been all that friendly..."

"Why bother?" her brother scoffed, making her smile falter. "Come mid-terms you'll be out of there."

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably. "Do you really think it'll be that easy?"

He squeezed her hand a little too tightly. "Of course." Her brother eyed her sternly. "You're already showing progress with our study program."

She avoided his gaze. "Yeah, but with finals—"

"That was just a blip." His voice sharpened, making her tense and lookup. "You just overworked yourself and didn't organise your revision correctly," he said firmly. "It isn't going to happen again."

Mitsuko chewed the inside of her mouth, ignoring the pain in her hand when he dug his nails in. "Right..." She said unsurely, but quickly straightened up when he shot her a look. "You're right. I'll get it right this time."

Gakushuu nodded, letting go of her hand. "You'll be back in Class A before you know it."

She nodded, forcing a smile.

_He made it sound so simple._

* * *

_You'll be back in Class A before you know it._

Mitsuko stared at the gun in her hand, examining the hilt with precision. She looked back at the tree in front of her before taking a deep breath and then aiming.

The pink BB never hit the same spot twice.

"Ugh!" She gritted her teeth and fired excess rounds around recklessly. "Damn it!" She shut her eyes tight when her ammo ran out. " _Stupid!"_ She hit the gun against the tree, making a dent.

Mitsuko bit down hard on her tongue and crouched down in defeat. A few birds flew off, frightened by the noise. She curled inwards more, lowering her head.

_Why can't I get this right?_

She looked back at the target she'd painted on the tree and felt a sickening taste in her mouth. Mitsuko tensed when she heard voices further away; that would be the other students arriving. She looked over her shoulder and felt the taste in her mouth worsen.

Mitsuko slowly stood up and pocketed the gun. She listened to the other students laugh and joke among themselves.

_Why are they better at this than me?_

She frowned and looked at the Old Campus in-between the cracks of the trees.

"Are you okay?"

Mitsuko jumped to her feet. "What the...?"

"Up here."

Mitsuko followed the length of the tree trunk up to where Kurahashi was happily perched on a branch. "Uh...Why are you in a tree?" She arched an eyebrow.

The short-haired girl smiled brightly. "I'm just enjoying the view. You can come on up if you want."

"Um, I'm a little too old to be climbing trees," she replied dryly.

The other girl shrugged, smiling still. "Well, you're missing a good view."

Mitsuko frowned, looking around briefly.

 _It's not like anyone's around_.

She hesitantly walked towards the tree and started to climb. "Ugh..." She stumbled a bit when her foot slid.

Kurahashi reached out to help. "Grab on."

Mitsuko glanced at the hand. "No, it's fine." Her frown deepened, straining to grab the branch. "I...have...this..." She gritted her teeth and lurched towards the branch, grasping on. "See!" She dragged herself up, getting a few twigs caught in her hair.

Kurahashi looked amused. "Okay."

Mitsuko held her head high as she used her fingers to comb the leaves and twigs from her hair. "So, where's this great view?"

The other girl pointed to the right.

Mitsuko followed her line of sight. "Oh." You could see the main campus from here as well as some of the city. "Right...huh." It was a nice view.

Kurahashi's feet dangled from the thick branch as she kicked the air. "One of the things I really like about here is the view." She grinned. "Those main campus kids don't know what they're missing!"

Mitsuko hummed, frowning still. "I guess...." She stared at the main campus building and sighed. "But I can think of a few things I miss..."

Kurahashi tilted her head, still smiling. "I sometimes miss the cafeteria and air conditioning."

She smiled faintly. "Yeah, that's another thing."

"But, at least it's a lot more fun here," Kurahashi commented, shrugging.

Mitsuko shrugged. "It's definitely...different." She leant against the tree trunk. "I'm just worried..." her smile faded. "What if we don't kill him? Then all of this, everyone we know...they'll be gone."

Kurahashi's smile dimmed. "Yeah..." She looked down as the two lapsed in an uncomfortable silence. "...But, it's also a good reason to appreciate what we have right now," she said lightly, looking back at the wildlife. "We might only have a year to enjoy it."

Mitsuko hummed, thinking it over. "True." Her thoughts lingered on Rio for a moment as her stomach churned. "I guess the apocalypse it inevitable anyway." She sighed deeply, grimacing. "Better to go out with a bang than prolonged suffering."

Kurahashi laughed. "Yeah, that's true." Then she frowned. "But then again, we still don't know how he's going to end the world."

"Well, he did _blow_ up the moon," Mitsuko pointed out.

"Yeah, but who's to say he doesn't come up with a different way this time?" she said, smiling.

Mitsuko smirked faintly. "Like what? Smothering us all to death?"

"Yeah! That would be interesting." Then Kurahashi clicked her fingers. "That reminds me!" She grinned. "Do you want to see something cool?"

"Uh, I guess so," Mitsuko replied warily, frowning. "What is it?"

"Come and see." Kurahashi hurriedly climbed down the tree.

"Huh—? Hey, wait!" Mitsuko rushed after her, climbing down less gracefully.

Kurahashi laughed and ran through the trees. "Better keep up."

Mitsuko groaned, pushing stray tree branches out of her way. "Wait up!"

Then the other girl came to a sudden stop in front of a pond. "Here we are!"

Mitsuko looked around curiously before her gaze focused on the pond. It was small and filtered into the river through a small hole. There were a few ninespine fish swimming around.

Kurahashi bent down. "Pretty cool right?"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "How did _smothering to death_ remind you of this?"

"I like finding things like this," Kurahashi said, smiling when the sun hit her face. "I thought you'd like it because of the book you were reading yesterday." She smiled up at her. "The one about freshwater fish?"

Mitsuko looked surprised she'd noticed. "Yeah, I have a couple of tiger loach fish back home..."

"Wow, really?" The other girl grinned. "I think those are really pretty."

Mitsuko felt herself smiling again. "...Yeah, I think so too." Mitsuko bent down and stared at the ninespines. "That's pretty observant of you, noticing the thing about the book."

Kurahashi looked pleased, staring at the pond. "Biology is practically the only thing I'm good at," she said sheepishly. "I've always loved nature."

Mitsuko smiled faintly, feeling nostalgic. "I used to collect snails when I was a kid." Her smile grew warm, staring at the river. "Me and my brother would paint their shells and then see how long it took them to come back home."

Kurahashi's smile grew. "That sounds really nice."

"Yeah, it was..." Her smile dimmed, remembering where she was. "Anyway." She frowned, standing up. "It was nice of you to show me this." She turned away. "I better get back before class starts."

Kurahashi's brow knitted in confusion. "Oh, um, okay..."

* * *

Mitsuko stared at her knife as she sat down for lunch. It wouldn't be long until Class E completed their planning for the big assassination attack coming up, and her skills with a gun were still...well, she was still much better with a knife so that was something at least.

_But, still..._

She rubbed her eyes tiredly.

_If I can't keep up with them, then how the hell am I going to get back to Class A?_

"Hey! Mitsuko!" Kurahashi was in front of her desk, smiling. "Do you wanna come eat lunch with us?"

"Uh..." Mitsuko slipped the knife back in her pocket.

Kurahashi continued. "I brought some extra Pockys so everyone can share!"

_Why was she always so happy?_

"Uh..." Mitsuko looked taken aback. "...Okay."

"Great!" she clapped her hands and looked over at the table at the back where Rio, Yada, Nagisa, and Kayano were sat. "Come on."

Mitsuko tensed when she saw Rio. "...Um, actually on second thought..." She masked her discomfort. "I'm just going to eat outside—"

"Oh, come on!" Kurahashi pouted, drawing some attention from the others. "We don't bite. Promise."

Mitsuko scrutinised her briefly before she sighed. "...Okay, fine." She picked up her lunch and stood up.

Kurahashi grinned. "Awesome!"

Mitsuko followed the unnaturally happy girl to the table and sat down without looking at Rio.

The conversation quietened when she sat down. "Oh, hey, Mitsuko," Nagisa said, smiling. "How have you been?"

"Fine enough." Mitsuko took a bike of her sushi.

Nagisa's smile faltered briefly. "Oh, uh, great."

"Hm." Mitsuko poked at her food, shifting uncomfortably.

Yada cleared her throat, still smiling despite the lack of conversation. "So, everyone set for the assassination plot tomorrow?"

Rio smirked. "Got my gun polished and everything." She glanced over at Mitsuko. "You on board, Asano?"

Mitsuko's stomach twisted at the formal address. "Well, I don't want to get caught in the crossfire," she replied stiffly, shrugging.

"That's great, we'll need the help," Kurahashi said brightly.

"We can get here early to set up," Kayano commented, grinning. "We might be able to land a blow this time."

Mitsuko hummed, poking her nigiri, feeling Rio's eyes on her. "Yeah..."

Being in close proximity with Rio was stirring up some old feelings she didn't want to think about.

_Come mid-terms you'll be out of there._

_...Right, of course..._

There was a long pause after that, they might have mentioned something about their un-killable target travelling to Iceland but Mitsuko wasn't paying attention. She stared out of the window and at the woods that stretched on towards the main campus.

Gakushuu would be eating lunch with his friends right now; she'd packed him a beef and rice dish since he wasn't the biggest fan of sushi. It may be simple but he always complained the cafeteria lunches were sloppy... but at least _he_ had the option to eat there if he ever forgot to pack his own lunch.

She stabbed and poked some of her maki, glancing down at her food.

Mid-terms weren't that far away, and if she failed again—

_It isn't going to happen again!_

Mitsuko took a bite of her maki, it felt tasteless and weird in her mouth.

_I can't disappoint Gakushuu..._

She started to feel sick, the food in her mouth felt heavy, and the whole classroom felt warm because there wasn't any stupid air conditioning in this place!

"Um, are you okay?" Rio sounded concerned.

Mitsuko looked up when she realised they were all staring at her. "Yes..." Her voice didn't sound convincing and she still felt sick. "It's just too hot in here. I'm heading to the bathroom..." She wrinkled her nose and left the table before they could reply.

She kept her head held up high until she was safely inside one of the cubicles where no one was around and all pretences could be dropped.

"Crap..." She clutched her stomach and sat down on the toilet.

Mitsuko sighed and buried her face in her hands.

She just needed to calm down.

 _Breathe_. Just breathe, you idiot.

Her hands started to feel numb.

_Stop being such a drama queen!_

She covered her mouth to mask her loud breathing.

She stiffened when she heard the door open, narrowing her eyes at the small gap of the cubicle.

"...So, are you okay?" It was Rio.

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, feeling her panic start to be smothered by frustration.

_What did she want?_

Rio sighed, tapping her foot. "You better not be dead or something..."

Mitsuko felt a flare of anger, gritting her teeth. "I'm _trying_ to use the bathroom. _Do you mind_?"

There was a snort. "Liar."

Mitsuko's ground her teeth. "Get out, you weirdo!"

"You don't own the bathroom..."

Mitsuko held back a scream, wanting to bash her head against the wall. "Seriously, what the hell is your problem?"

"Uh, you're the one who looked like you were having a borderline panic attack." Rio's voice wavered, losing its edge. "So just cut the act already."

Mitsuko closed her eyes tightly, biting down hard on her tongue.

Her breathing had started to return to normal and her hands weren't trembling as much.

Mitsuko glared at the door a moment longer before she unlocked it and kicked it open. " _What_?"

Rio was leaning against a sink, with a raised eyebrow. "Class is gonna start soon."

Mitsuko grimaced, grabbing her bag. "Not if the octopus takes a side trip to Alaska again." She flung the bag over her shoulder. "Why do you care anyway?"

Rio's eyes narrowed briefly, crossing her arms. "Because I'm _trying_ to be nice."

Mitsuko bristled, folding her arms, feeling her stomach twist unpleasantly. "I'm fine, and I don't want your..." She fumbled a little, glaring at her. "Whatever you think... _this_ is."

Rio scowled, closing her eyes as she sighed deeply. "You don't have to be an asshole about it." Her voice was quieter than expected.

The comment made her tense. Mitsuko dug her nails into her arm and swallowed a lump in her throat. "What do you expect me to say?" She couldn't look at her. "You've barely even looked my way these last few weeks."

Something flashed in Rio's gaze. "I'm not the one who stopped being friends," she snapped, glaring. "Why can't you just...?" Her voice wavered just for a second. "I don't even know why I'm bothering."

Mitsuko's chest tightened, looking away when Rio took a step towards the door. "Wait."

The bathroom was silent.

"...What?" Rio's tone was curt.

The guilt rested heavy in her stomach like a stone. "...I'm sorry," Mitsuko apologised quietly, looking down. "I shouldn't have been rude."

Rio paused for a moment, but then looked over her shoulder. "it's okay...thanks."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. "I appreciate that you came to check on me."

Rio nodded. "It's fine."

Mitsuko's fingers twitched when an uncomfortable silence settled between the two of them. "...Right."

Rio chewed her lower lip for a moment while she shifted on the spot. "Yeah, well..." She sighed, trying to sound confident. "Instead of moping you should be training. We all have to be in top shape if we're gonna kill the octopus!"

The corner of Mitsuko's lips twitched upwards briefly before she cleared her throat. "You don't need to tell me that." She crossed her arms and raised her chin higher. "Since when have _I_ ever been a slacker?"

Rio rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, don't get all smug." She smirked. "You haven't even been taking any shots at him."

Mitsuko blushed faintly. "It's called _strategy_." She brushed past her on her way out. "I'm just...biding my time."

Rio scoffed. "Oh, yeah, sure." Her voice lacked any bite. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Mitsuko smiled faintly, feeling old memories resurface. She looked over her shoulder at Rio who was standing in the doorway. For a second it was like the glass wall between them wasn't even there, and she wanted to...

Rio averted her eyes, tensing when she cleared her throat. "Anyway, just try to be a bit more of a team player."

Mitsuko's smile cracked easily, feeling a swell of insecurity blossom. "Right..."


	4. Just try to be useful for once

"All right people," The target was mocking them again. "Let's get started shall we?" Waving his tentacles about as he chuckled. "Class monitor, if you would do the honours."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, holding her gun tightly.

Nagisa stood up abruptly. "Right. Ready!"

The whole class stood as one, brandishing their guns.

"Aim!" Nagisa's voice rang out.

She aimed her gun at his head, clenching her jaw.

Their teacher didn't move a muscle.

Nagisa's eyes narrowed. "Fire!"

A hellfire of bullets sprayed out.

It looked like they were seeing triple with the way he moved so fast and the music grew faster. "Well-oh my- I'll be taking attendance, so please, fire all you like. Isogai-kun?"

Mitsuko felt a flare of rage. (Is he even taking this seriously!?)

In short, he was not taking this seriously.

They all kept firing throughout the entire roll call.

"Asano-san?" the Target called.

"Here!" She snapped, reloading her gun. (Come on, we must be making some kind of damage!)

When they ran out of pellets, they had left no damage except that they were now all exhausted.

The Target's permanent grin stayed fixed in place, closing the roll call book. "All present and accounted for." His face changed to a bright red, with an O in the middle. "Excellent! That makes me very happy."

"He's too fast," Rio said, out of breath.

"The whole class opened fire and he doesn't even have a scratch," Isogai rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Ugh!" Mitsuko dropped her gun and glared at the mutated teacher. "How are you not dead?"

"Yeah, that was full-on warfare," Mimura commented.

Their teacher kept grinning.

Mitsuko groaned, sitting back down. (Even a full-on attack did nothing.) She ignored the rest of his rambling and scowled. (How are we ever going to kill this thing?) Her gaze strayed to the crescent moon, sighing. (Damn it.)

* * *

Their barely qualified yellow teacher droned on about English pronouns, a problem she'd already found the answer to.

"Um..." It was that violet haired boy again.

Sugaya wasn't it? That's what the Target had called out in roll call.

Mitsuko arched an eyebrow, looking up from her notes. "Yes?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Can I borrow your pen again?" He held up a broken pen.

Her eyes twitched. "Don't you bring spares?" her gaze snapped to his bulky pencil case. "What's even in that thing?"

Sugaya smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's mainly just pencils and art supplies..." He showed her the inside of the pencil case where an array of different coloured and shaded pencils were stuffed in.

Her eyes narrowed. "But, not one pen?"

He gave a strained laugh. "Um...I'll just ask—"

"Oh, just take it." She tossed a spare pink pen in his direction.

Sugaya caught it and smiled. "Thanks."

She scowled and turned back to her notes.

* * *

Later at lunch, the Octopus left to another exotic location, leaving them all in peace to eat their lunches.

Mitsuko stayed sat at her desk and took her's out. She glanced over at Rio who was eating with Yada and Kayano near the front of the class, making her frown.

"Here's your pen back." Sugaya tapped her on the shoulder.

She frowned and placed it back in her pencil case. "Thanks..."

"Uh...so, do you wanna eat lunch with us?" Sugaya asked, gesturing to Kimura and Okajima who were approaching.

Mitsuko hesitated, but then scowled when she heard Rio laugh at something Yada had said. "Okay, I will."

Sugaya looked faintly surprised. "Okay, great."

Mitsuko shuffled her chair around as Okajima and Kimura joined them around the desk.

"Well, I guess it's back to the drawing board," Kimura said, unpacking his lunch.

Sugaya sighed. "It's really starting to bum me out."

Mitsuko glanced over at where the girls were eating and frowned, looking down. "Yeah..."

"Heh, someone's jealous, huh?" Okajima said.

"What?!" The colour drained from her face. "W-what are you talking about?!"

Sugaya raised an eyebrow. "Uh..."

Okajima laughed. "Oh, come on, girls are always jealous of each other." He smirked. "That's why you're always glaring at Nakamura."

Mitsuko tensed. "Uh..." She cleared her throat, frowning. "Not all girls are jealous of each other."

Okajima rolled his eyes. "Pfft, yeah, right." He smirked. "Kayano's always glaring at Yada, not that I blame her." His smirk grew, making crude hand gestures when he squeezed the air. "I mean have you seen her massive—?"

Kimura frowned. "Why are you and Nakamura always glaring at each other then?"

"I don't... _glare_ ," Mitsuko muttered, scowling at the noodle wrapped around her fork. "Besides, she's the one always looking at me, and for the record, I am not jealous of her."

Okajima frowned. "Uh..."

Mitsuko scowled. "I mean, she isn't as great as everybody makes her out to be, you know? She's not even a natural blonde," she ranted, crossing her arms. "She just dyed her hair that way back when we were ten because she claimed blondes have more fun, and she even didn't start shaving her legs until last year."

The boys stared at her blankly.

"....Wow, okay, that was way too much information than actually needed," Sugaya commented dryly.

"Didn't you guys used to be friends are something?" Kimura asked, frowning. "You always used to sit together at lunch last year."

She chewed her food, shrugging. "We _were_ friends..."

"What happened?" Okajima asked.

Mitsuko shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "We just drifted apart."

"Oh...well, that sucks," Sugaya commented.

"Yep." She poked at her lunch. "Story of life." She sighed, resting her chin in her hand. "Anyway. Back to the main issue at hand." Her brow furrowed. "How exactly are going to avoid imminent death by killing the octopus?" She raised an eyebrow at them. "Any ideas?"

The boys looked sheepish.

"Uh..."

Mitsuko sighed deeply, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, didn't think so." She grimaced, leaning back. "Looks like we're dead."

"Hey don't say that!" Okajima grew flustered. "It freaks me out!"

"Well, we are the End Class..." Kimura said, frowning.

Okajima grimaced and then sighed. "Yeah, I know." He looked up at the ceiling and groaned. "The world seriously lucked out when the government put us on the frontline."

Sugaya smiled grimly. "They're definitely expecting a lot..."

Mitsuko sighed, feeling her stomach twist. "Yeah..."

* * *

Mitsuko sighed as she thought up a short poem to fit in with the theme the octopus wanted. "Ren would have a field day with this," she mumbled, smirking faintly.

Their mutated teacher glanced up. "Finished already, Nagisa-kun?"

"Huh?" Mitsuko frowned, looking up.

Nagisa looked weirdly more nervous than normal as he walked to the front of the classroom.

Her gaze narrowed.

_Why was Nagisa of all people finished early?"_

Nagisa stopped in front of their teacher and then in a flash he brandished a knife.

Mitsuko's eyes widened.

_Is he seriously going in for an alone attack?_

In a flash, Nagisa struck out with the knife, but their teacher evaporated into smoke before the blade struck and grabbed Nagisa's hand.

"Didn't I tell you to be more inventive?" he chided, while his other tentacle touched the knife with a handkerchief.

But, then something unexpected and extremely terrifying happened.

Without warning, Nagisa jumped forward at their teacher and smiled at the target with a grenade tied around his neck.

Their teacher looked horrified. "Wha—!"

The grenade exploded.

A thousand tiny bullets sprayed out in waves, nearly blinding the whole class.

_What the hell!!?_

Mitsuko shielded her face with her arms.

Terasaka fist-pumped the air. "Hell yeah!"

"We did it!" Muramatsu jumped in the air, as smoke spread through the room.

Kayano's eyes widened. "Nagisa!"

"Ten billion yen! Cha-ching! Serves you right!" Terasaka ran towards the front of the class where the dust was still too thick.

"What have you done?!" Hiroto shouted angrily.

There was a resounding scrape of chairs as the rest of the class got up to try and see what had happened.

There was a dark grey husk at the front of the room but it was hard to make out.

_Where was Nagisa?!_

Terasaka looked over at the damage triumphantly. "Bet he never expected a suicide bomber!"

"Hey!" Kayano stood up, balling her hands into fists. " What'd you give Nagisa?!"

Terasaka frowned. "Huh? A toy grenade. But I beefed it up with some gunpowder so it'd shoot three hundred anti-teacher bullets at a crazy-high speed!" He grinned, bending over at the ugly lump on the ground.

"Is he...?" Mitsuko covered her mouth when she felt vomit try to creep its way up her throat. "Is he dead?!"

"It's nothing strong enough to kill human beings, all right? My ten billion yen will cover his medical bills no prob—"

He stopped when he saw Nagisa lying unconscious on the ground covered by a thin sheep goo, completely unharmed.

"He's not hurt? Not even a single burn? And what's this membrane?" Terasaka shakily lifted up a piece of the goo. "It's attached to that octopus' corpse?"

"As it happens." The target's voice came from nowhere and was unusually cold.

Mitsuko tensed, feeling her insides recoil. The room became darker and colder as the distorted voice of their teacher spoke.

"I shed my skin about once a month." On the ground, Nagisa awoke and rubbed his eyes, as he easily slipped the old skin off. "I protected Nagisa-kun thereby covering him with my old skin."

Her eyes widened when she saw their usually happy-go-lucky teacher hanging from the ceiling and looking like a demon born from nightmares. She stepped back, swallowing thickly. His whole body was pitch-black and his smile was gone and replaced with a deep, wrinkled, scowl.

He was threatening Terasaka and his gang, and the whole classroom seemed clouded with a dark aura that sucked the colour out.

"Holy crap..." Mitsuko whispered in horror.

"He's pissed," Kimura hissed.

The target growled and then disappeared in a spray of dust.

Terasaka looked up at the ceiling in shock. "He's gone—!"

A second later the octopus zoomed back into the room like a tornado, dropping three nameplates on the ground.

Mitsuko flinched back. "What is...wait, is that...?" Her eyes widened in horror.

"The nameplates from our house?!" Terasaka choked.

The target had a whole sack full of nameplates, all of them with each students' family nameplate in it.

"My agreement with your government prohibits me from harming you. But if you try another assassination like that one..." He held up Nagisa's nameplate. "I might just harm someone else." He scattered the rest on the floor. "Your friends, family." Their teacher's grin was monstrous and savage. "Maybe I'll kill everyone on the planet except you." He started to laugh, low and icy.

Mitsuko paled, feeling her insides turn to ice. (He's insane. We're trapped in a class with a god damn lunatic!!)

"What the hell's your deal, anyway?" Terasaka shouted through their teacher's cold laughter. Nagisa looked over at his classmates. "You're a real pain in the back!" Terasaka pointed at him accusingly, even though his whole body was shaking.

"Don't threaten him, you idiot!" Mitsuko yelled, wanting to whack him over the head.

"Yeah, cool it, Terasaka!" Hiroto told him.

Terasaka ignored them. "Showing up all 'I'm gonna blow the Earth' and 'Assassinate me'!" he shouted, while their teacher's eyes gleamed red. "What's wrong with using an annoying method to kill an annoying guy?!"

Like a twitch, the octopus changed back to his harmless yellow self.

"What the hell?!" Yoshida squeaked.

Mitsuko's eyes widened. "What just...?"

"Annoying? Hardly." The target was red again. "Your idea itself was a very good one. Especially you, Nagisa-kun." He patted Nagisa on the head. "The way you carried yourself so naturally on your approach gets full marks from me. You did an excellent making it past my defences," he praised. " _However!_ " he snapped, making Terasaka and his gang flinch. "None of you looked out for Nagisa-kun- Not even Nagisa-kun himself. Students like that aren't fit to assassinate." His face turned purple.

"Y-you literally just threatened to hurt our families five seconds ago!!" Mitsuko exclaimed, gaping.

The octopus chuckled. "Yes, well I can't have you all being reckless now can I?" he replied. "Think of it as...positive incentive."

"HOW IS THAT POSITIVE!?" The class yelled.

The purple faded from the target's face as he addressed the rest of the class. "We need an assassination worth smiling about- one to be proud of! You're all capable assassins who have that power within you. Just a few words of advice from your teacher-slash-target."

"Ugh." Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms. "This is insane..." She groaned, burying her face in her hand. "Can he just kill us already so we don't have to put up with these mind games?"

Sugaya shrugged. "I mean; his personality switching is hard to keep up with."

"Uh, more like impossible," Mimura commented.

Kayano looked up, tapping her chin. "An un-killable teacher..."

"Huh?" Nagisa glanced at her.

Her brow furrowed. "An un-killable teacher...Korosensei...koro..." she murmured to herself, and then clicked her fingers. "Oh! What about Koro-Sensei?"

"Koro-Sensei?" Nagisa repeated.

The target perked up. "Huh?"

"Koro-sensei?" Rio hummed, rubbing her chin. "It does sound pretty fitting."

"Yeah, nice name pick, Kayano," Kataoka praised.

Kayano grinned. "Heh. Thanks!"

"Do you like it, sir?" Nagisa asked.

The target hummed. "Koro-sensei..." He started to chuckled. "Oh, yes, it's perfect!!"

Mitsuko sighed, feeling exhausted as she sat back down. "I just wanna go home..." Then she frowned. "Hey, wait for a second!" She looked at the nameplates and stood up. "You better re-attach our nameplates back to our houses!!"

Koro-sensei tensed. "Uh..." He looked at the nameplates.

The rest of the class caught on.

"YEAH! Otherwise, our parents are gonna be pissed!!"

"Sir, mine was brand new!"

"Did you really have to take all of them just to prove a point!?"

"Yeah, what are you a thief?"

Koro-sensei grew flustered. "Oh, no! I'll return each one, don't worry! I was just polishing them is all!!" He hastily gathered up the nameplated. "See, see, I'll put them all back, Better than new even!"

Mitsuko smirked in amusement when the octopus continued to apologise and gather up the nameplates.

Her smirk faded a little when she looked over at Nagisa. She hesitated for a moment before she walked over. "Uh, hey..."

Nagisa looked up. "Oh, hey."

"Um, are you okay?" Mitsuko asked, twisting her hands behind her back.

The blue-haired boy smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked sheepish. "Sorry, for scaring everyone..."

"It's okay." She shrugged. "Just...don't do it again." She smiled crookedly. "My dad _really_ hates lawsuits..." Her smirk grew. "...Among pretty much everything else that isn't related to education."

Nagisa chuckled. "Yeah, sorry..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I promise, I'll try to be less reckless."

"You're darn right!" Sugino came over and ruffled Nagisa's hair. "You nearly gave us a heart attack."

Nagisa looked embarrassed as the others came over to fret over him.

Mitsuko glanced over at Koro-sensei who was hurriedly polishing the nameplates as he kept rambling how their parents wouldn't even notice they were gone.

* * *

"Did you notice something off about the nameplate?" Gakushuu leaned against the bathroom doorway while Mitsuko brushed her teeth.

She snorted, nearly spitting her toothpaste out in the process. "No," she gargled, spitting into the sink. "Looks fine to me." She wiped her mouth and turned to him. He was still dressed in his school uniform while she was already in her sky blue, star patterned, pyjamas ready for bed. "Do you even plan on sleeping tonight?"

Gakushuu scoffed. "It's only eleven."

She rolled her eyes and placed her toothbrush back in the holder. "Oh, right, sorry," she replied dryly. "I forgot you function on four hours sleep." Her brow rose. "You do realise the average human being needs eight hours?"

Her brother raised an eyebrow. "The average human being doesn't have my work schedule."

"Fair play." She shrugged, stepping out into the hallway. "Well, one upside of being bottom of the barrel is having a decent sleep schedule." She stretched her arms, smirking. "So I'll leave you to function on your crappy energy drinks and protein bars."

"It isn't my fault you don't have the endurance." Gakushuu adjusted his tie and shrugged. "Besides, I do my best work at night."

"It's called a caffeine overdose," she commented flatly.

A hollow chuckle cut into their bantering.

Mitsuko tensed along with her brother who narrowed his gaze.

The Principal walked down the hallway towards them. "You would do well to remember, Mitsuko, that inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy." Giving her a judging look.

Her eyes narrowed. If he was judging her on the fact her pyjama t-shirt had a giant star with sunshades on, then fair enough, but if he was judging her for trying to go to sleep at a regular time, then he was just being petty.

"As said by Tchaikovsky, I'm aware..." she replied stiffly, crossing her arms. "But I wouldn't put a healthy amount of sleep in the same category as idleness."

Gakushuu stepped in front of her. "Is there something you wanted, sir?"

The Principal smiled thinly, looking passed her brother. "Mitsuko, I would like a word with you in my office."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. "Now?"

He smiled condescendingly. "If it wouldn't be much trouble." Then he glanced at her brother. "Don't you have work to finish, Asano?"

Gakushuu glared at him. "That depends. Will the kitchen floor need mopping again?"

The Chairman barely looked fazed by the remark and turned around. "Come, Mitsuko."

She scowled at being summoned like a dog. "Yes, sir," she replied stiffly, shooting her brother a reproachful look when he looked ready to attack their father. "I'll be fine," she muttered, stepping passed him. "Just go."

Gakushuu's jaw tightened as he watched her follow their father downstairs.

Mitsuko sighed deeply, rubbing her throat self-consciously as she followed him down the stairs. "I take it this is about what happened in class today," she said when they'd both entered the home office; the room was impossibly tidy with hardly any clutter in sight. She shut the door and stepped further in.

"Your... _teacher_ informed that agent Karasuma of something transpiring," said the Principal lightly, stepping around her towards the door.

"What are you...?" Mitsuko watched him in confusion.

The Principal kicked the bottom of the door.

There was a faint hissing from the other side of the door from Gakushuu.

"Over here." The Principal walked to the farthest part of the office where the window was. "Your brother has a bad habit of eavesdropping."

Mitsuko sighed. "Can't imagine why..." she muttered, rolling her eyes. "The door's too thick for him to actually hear us properly anyway."

"Now, as I was saying, I was informed there was an incident," he said, looking at her expectantly.

She scowled, crossing her arms. "One of the students attempted a reckless assassination attempt," she replied quietly, narrowing her gaze at the ground. "The plan involved having Nagisa Shiota lunging at the target..."

"Shiota?" The Principal's brow creased slightly. "Isn't he...?"

"The blue haired guy who looks like a girl, yes that's him," Mitsuko replied flatly.

"Ah, yes, I remember." He rubbed his chin.

"Well, Nagisa..." She grimaced. "He had a grenade full of anti-sensei BB's strapped around his neck..."

The Principal's gaze sharpened; he actually looked concerned. "Was he injured?"

"Koro-sensei protected him," Mitsuko said quickly, not liking the alarmed look in his eyes. "He was completely uninjured."

His expression was calm again. "Koro-sensei?"

"That's the name we've assigned to the target." She sighed, shrugging. "He needed a name eventually..."

He hummed, looking out of the window. "Koro-sensei...the un-killable teacher." He smiled thinly. "Hm. I assume he was quite thrilled with the name." He looked back down at her. "Is there anything else?"

Mitsuko debated telling him the threat Koro-sensei had made. "Uh..." She shrugged. "Besides the fact he was angry at Nagisa for being reckless? Not much else." She cleared her throat. "He made it very clear that he wouldn't tolerate future reckless assassination attempts."

The Chairman looked intrigued. "Really?"

"Yes...he seems strangely overprotective over us for some reason." She frowned, looking down. "More than needed anyway."

The Principal was silent for a moment, turning back to the window. "Interesting. Continue."

"Uh..." She quickly wracked her brain for fresh information. "Well, what's also strange is that for a super mutated monster who is capable of destroying the world, he's really...well, kind of a moron."

The Principal raised an eyebrow. "So he's an idiot?"

"Well, he's not low in intelligence, in fact if we're talking IQ scale he'd top the charts," Mitsuko commented, smirking faintly when she saw his eyes narrow. "No, he's not an idiot in that way. He's just..."

"Try to be more specific," The Principal's voice had an edge to it.

She scowled. "He reads porn magazines and is addicted to junk food," she answered bluntly, causing her father's eyes to widen a fraction. "He's really eager to please, and gets flustered and embarrassed if he gets called out for being a pervert."

The Principal was paying full attention to her now. "Excuse me?"

Mitsuko shrugged, sighing. "I mean he's a giant octopus so he's gotta be a little perverted, but—"

"I don't have time for your jokes, Mitsuko." He frowned at her.

Her gaze narrowed. "I wasn't joking." She clasped her hands behind her back. "You're the one who wanted useful information..."

He stared at her intently for a moment, probably trying to figure out if she was lying. "...So he's easily flustered, you say?"

" _Yes_ ," she replied curtly, keeping her gaze narrowed.

There was a pause before he smiled condescendingly. "Hm. Well, in that case perhaps you're not completely useless after all."

Mitsuko bristled, gritting her teeth as she glared at him. "Can I go now?"

His smile grew crooked, as he had the audacity to pat her on the head. "I do still expect more useful information in the future."

Her hands shook as she struggled to keep her temper in check. "Funny, if I didn't know any better I'd think you're afraid of losing control, _sir_."

His nails dug into her skull, making her tense. " _Manners_ , Mitsuko," he warned her lightly before removing his hand. "You're dismissed."

Mitsuko scowled, stepping back. "I'm sogladI could be of service," she muttered bitterly before turning towards the door. " _Pleasant dreams_ , sir."

She didn't even need to turn around to know he was glowering at her; she savoured that small victory at managing to strike a chord, no matter how tiny it may have seemed.


	5. But are you sure you are?

Irina Jelavic was the most beautiful woman Mitsuko had ever seen in her life.

Mitsuko couldn't stop staring at her, to the point she had spent at least ten minutes with her jaw open as she gazed at the blonde woman.

"Uh...Mitsuko, do you want your pen back?" Someone poked her back.

Mitsuko's mouth snapped shut as her cheeks flushed pink.

_Oh, shit, it's happening again._

She tore her gaze away and stared at her desk, bunching her hands in her skirt.

_No, stop it. Stop it!_

She closed her eyes tight, feeling hot and flustered.

_Don't be a pervert._

_DON'T BE A PERVERT!!_

Mitsuko swore and bashed her head on the desk.

"Uh...Mitsuko?"

Her head shot up.

Koro-sensei and the rest of the class were staring at her.

Some of them were sniggering or failing to hide their smiles.

Mitsuko went stark white from humiliation; her forehead bruised from the impact against the desk.

_For any kami listening....I'm ready to die now._

"Uh..." Her throat was dry. "S-sorry!" she blurted out, shrinking in her seat. "I'm not feeling well today!"

Mr Karasuma frowned while Ms Jelavic smirked slyly and Koro-sensei looked confused.

If they knew she was lying, they didn't bring it up, as most of the class re-focussed their attention on Koro-sensei and Ms Jelavic.

* * *

_Things only got worse throughout the day._

Mitsuko had made the mistake of eating lunch behind the back of the old campus building since she'd been too mortified to face her classmates after her outburst.

"Well, aren't you a cutie."

Mitsuko froze mid-bite of her lunch, looking up.

Ms Jelavic was smirking as she stood above her.

Mitsuko blushed and quickly stuffed her lunch back into her bag. "W-what do you want?!" she stammered, standing up.

The blonde flipped her hair back and stepped closer, shoving her unearthly large cleavage in Mitsuko's face. "I just want some information on the octopus." She pouted as Mitsuko backed against the wall. "But none of you brats seem to want to help."

Mitsuko tensed, looking anywhere but her chest. "Well...you didn't exactly ask politely," she said brazenly, covering her cheeks to hide her blush. "Uh, could you like maybe, back off a little?"

The woman smirked, edging back only an inch. "You know, I was serious about getting a reward."

Mitsuko's eyes widened in alarm when the woman cupped her cheek, forcing their eyes to meet. "Ah-h, w-what are—?"

"But I guess the guys wouldn't do much for you, huh?" Ms Jalavic smiled coyly. "How about I teach you a thing or too?" She moved closer—

Mitsuko panicked and punched her in the face.

"AH!!" Ms Jelavic clutched her nose. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Mitsuko was red in the face. "You're the one acting like a freaking sexual predator!"

She looked offended. "Oh, please! I was only doing my job." Her glare darkened. "It was only going to be a kiss."

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "And what gives you the right to take that from me?!"

Ms Jelavic froze. "Huh?" She looked confused. "You've never been kissed? Seriously!!?"

Mitsuko's cheeks were scorching hot. "I have just..." She ducked her head. "...Not by a girl..."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, like it matters." She huffed, straightening up. "A kiss is a kiss, kid." She rubbed her nose and looked at her hand to see if there was any blood. "You're just lucky I'm not bleeding! Next time you try that I'll shoot out your eyes."

Mitsuko grimaced. "Well, next time don't assault me!"

Ms Jelavic scoffed. "I was trying to do you a favour." She flipped her hair back and started to walk away. "I'll just find someone more willing. Tsk."

Mitsuko glared at her as she walked away. "Bitch..." She scowled and touched her lips. "It _does_ matter..." she mumbled, feeling her stomach twist.

* * *

_A few days later..._

The feelings got worse when Ms Jelavic was renamed Bitch-sensei and became a now permanent fixture in the Old Campus building.

Mitsuko repeatedly hit her head against a large tree in the middle of the woods, hoping to kill as many brain cells as possible.

She eased off the bashing when she started to feel a concussion develop.

"Fuck!" Mitsuko groaned, leaning against the tree "Why am I like this?" She whacked the back of her head against the tree for good measure. "And why isn't it going away?" she whined, staring up at the sky. "Okay, okay, just calm down," she told herself, beginning to pace in circles. "This is fine. It's fine."

_It's not like I don't like boys, right?_

She paused, remembering when she'd kissed Ren back in elementary school. "...Yes. I definitely do."

Mitsuko sighed deeply, running a hand over her face.

"Just calm down...it's okay, it's _all_ going to be okay," she told herself. "Remember what the Principal said." She smashed her fist into her hand. "Emotions are like lightbulbs, just turn them off. _Simple._ "

"That's horrible advice."

Mitsuko yelped and slammed her back against the tree.

Sugaya had appeared from around the corner, holding up the pen she'd leant him.

There was a long stretch of silence.

"...You kind of disappeared during lunch so I came to find you," Sugaya said, shrugging. "Here's your pen."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat and hastily snatched the pen back. "...How much of that did you hear?"

"Uh...well, I tuned in after you finished bashing your head against the tree," Sugaya replied, frowning. "Which you probably should get looked at."

Mitsuko tried to re-gather what was left of her dignity. "I'm just having a bad day."

His brow rose. "Uh, huh...right."

She narrowed her gaze. "Listen, I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what you heard today."

Sugaya stared at her for a moment, before he sighed deeply. "Relax, I'm not gonna tell anyone you're ga—"

She slammed her hand over his mouth, sending him crashing to the ground. "I am not _gay,_ " she hissed lowly, as her hands shook. "I like _boys_. I've _kissed_ boys, okay, so I am _not_ gay. Understand?"

Sugaya looked at her with wide eyes and nodded. "Owff!"

Mitsuko breathed deeply before she slowly removed her hand from his mouth and stood up. "If you ever tell anyone that I'll rip out your tongue."

Sugaya coughed, sitting up. "Okay, I'm sorry," he exclaimed, wiping his mouth as he stood up. "Listen." He raised his hands peacefully. "I don't see it as a big deal and neither should you."

Her stomach twisted, glaring at him. "And what would you know?"

Sugaya sighed, lowering his hands. "My cousin, he's...well, you know..."

Mitsuko crossed her arms, shifting uneasily. "And he told you?"

"Yeah, but he hasn't told his parents." Sugaya shrugged uncomfortably. "I know how to keep a secret, and besides, barely anyone even notices me in class."

"Oh..." Her frown deepened, feeling unsure.

Sugaya looked around before he stepped closer. "Look, if you like girls _and_ guys, that's fine" he whispered. "Just don't beat yourself up over it, okay?"

Mitsuko lowered her arms, swallowing a lump in her throat. "You really don't care?"

"Of course not. It's not even a big deal," Sugaya said, sighing. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I promise I won't tell anyone."

She relaxed a little. "Well, thank you." She rubbed her arm self-consciously. "I didn't mean to attack you it's just....no one else knows so..."

"It's okay." He smiled reassuringly. "I understand."

Mitsuko smiled faintly, feeling more at ease. "I...It's my fault for talking to myself anyway." She forced a laugh. "My mom keeps saying it'll get my committed to a psych ward one day."

His eyes widened. "Oh..."

"...That was a joke," she said awkwardly. "I was joking."

Sugaya gave a strained laugh. "Oh, right. Funny!"

She sighed deeply. "It's okay, I know it wasn't funny," she replied tiredly, leaning against a tree. "I kind of suck at making jokes. Humour doesn't really run in our family."

"Comedy's subjective." Sugaya shrugged, walking to her side. "So, are you okay?"

"...Honestly? No." Mitsuko sighed and sat down on the ground. "I'm confused, really confused, and I have no idea how to deal with it."

"You'll figure it out," Sugaya said, shrugging. "I know we're not friends, but I'm here if you need to talk about it." He smiled crookedly. "It'd beat talking to yourself in the middle of the woods."

She scoffed, feeling a bubble of amusement grow in her chest. "Thanks..."

"So..." Sugaya raised an eyebrow. "Were you and Nakamura more than... _friends?_ "

"No." Mitsuko scowled at him.

Sugaya frowned. "But you do like her like—?"

She groaned. "Congrats, Mr Obvious, gold star for you."

"Alright, sorry!" Sugaya apologised, raising his hands. "I was just wondering."

She sighed in exasperation. "I do have weird feelings for her..." her voice was low. "But none of that matters because now she hates me."

Sugaya frowned. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Yeah, well, you don't know how much of a bitch I was to her," Mitsuko replied sharply, standing up. "I'm the one who messed things up between us, and now..." She looked down. "Now I don't think she'll ever want to be friends with me again."

He hummed, rubbing his chin. "Hm. So she has no idea how you feel?"

"Stating the obvious again." Mitsuko sighed, crossing her arms. "I want to fix things but I don't even know how."

"Well, did you apologise for whatever happened?" he asked. "That would be a good place to start."

Mitsuko turned away, feeling sick. "I...I can't."

"What? Are you being serious?" He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "Why can't you apologise? Come on just tell me. I can't help if I don't know why."

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, fidgeting, she turned away from him. "...Because I said some things I can't take back." Her voice was quiet and small.

"Oh..."

Sugaya shifted uncomfortably.

She sighed. "She wouldn't accept it anyway..."

"You don't know that," he replied, shrugging. "You were best friends. I'm sure she wants to fix things as bad as you do."

She chewed her tongue anxiously. "...You really think so?"

Sugaya hesitated, second-guessing himself. "I think so, yeah."

Mitsuko felt something small blossom in her chest. "Okay...I'll try."

* * *

It took another few days for her to build up the nerve. She'd spent time practising exactly what she was going to say and thinking over how the conversation might play out.

She'd convinced Yada to let her swap her classroom cleaning shift on Friday, which meant she'd actually be alone with Rio.

Mitsuko too in a deep breath as she absently started to clean the classroom windows when Rio stepped in with a broom.

Rio's brow furrowed faintly. "Where's Yada?"

She smiled. "Oh, she had plans so we swapped shifts."

"Oh." Rio's frown faded after a second. "Okay." She shrugged it off and started to sweep the floor.

Mitsuko stayed silent for a while, cleaning the same spot for longer than necessary. "...So, how's your mom been?"

Rio paused from her sweeping, glancing up. "Uh, she's fine," she replied, bending down to clean under the desk better. "She started taking Chinese lessons."

"Good for her..." Mitsuko started to wipe down a desk.

"Yeah." Rio stood up, keeping her back to her. "...How's your mom?"

Mitsuko shrugged, keeping her gaze on the desk. "She's fine."

"Good," Rio replied politely, sweeping the old wooden floor.

Mitsuko tried to keep the conversation going. "Gakushuu's been doing well as well—he's been letting me come to his soccer games a lot more." She chuckled. "He keeps getting annoyed when I flirt with his teammates."

Amusement glinted in Rio's gaze when she looked up. "Are any of them hot?"

Mitsuko forced an easy smile. "Some of them. I mainly just do it to annoy him."

"Nice." Rio looked happy. "So I take it he's still an asshole?"

Mitsuko snorted, feeling a laugh bubble in her chest. "He's not an asshole."

The taller girl cocked an eyebrow. "According to you." She swept more enthusiastically. "Personally I don't get what the other girls see in him."

"Well, his fan club is annoying," Mitsuko admitted, smiling faintly. "And...I guess he can be a jerk sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Rio's brow rose higher.

"He's my brother. I'm biased." Mitsuko's smile grew fond, moving closer. "Remember our tenth birthday at that laser quest?"

Rio's eyes lit up, leaning on the broom handle slightly. "Which part? Your crappy leadership skills or his asshole friends?"

Mitsuko's smile turned into a scowl. "How were my leadership skills crappy?"

The other girl smiled. "Uh, the part where all of our team got wiped out."

"It wasn't my fault the boys used underhanded tactics!" Mitsuko scowl deepened.

Rio actually laughed this time; the sound made her stomach flutter. "Just admit that you sucked." She grinned, stepping within arm's reach. "It was still funny."

"Buzz off," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Hm." She smiled. "Those were good times, right?"

Rio's smiled wavered. "Uh, yeah." She turned away slightly, trailing the broom against the floor. "They were."

Mitsuko forced her smile to stick, feeling her stomach twist unpleasantly. "I actually have been meaning to speak to you about..." Her chest tightened. "Um, when I said those things to you."

Rio froze, starting to close off as her gaze narrowed. "What about it?"

She swallowed a lump in her throat, smothering her anxiety. "I'm...I'm sorry if I upset you."

Rio remained silent for a moment, staring at her. "What do you mean by _if_?"

Mitsuko tensed. "I just meant...I know what I said hurt."

"Then why did you say it?" Rio challenged, gripping the broom handle tighter.

"Because..." She faltered, feeling ill. "I was angry."

"At me?" Rio's voice cracked. "You treated me like shit, even before finals. You treated me—"

"I didn't mean to," Mitsuko tried to argue, beginning to panic. "It wasn't—"

"—Then what was it, Mitsuko?" Rio challenged. "Tell me. What was it?"

"Just let me finish!" Mitsuko snapped, feeling her temper flare. "Stop yelling at me."

Rio mouth snapped shut, giving her a chance to speak.

"I just wanted to apologise," Mitsuko balled her hands into fists. "I'm sorry that I hurt you. I don't like fighting like this. Do you?"

Rio was quiet, staring at her with a raw intensity that made her uncomfortable. "You made me feel worthless," she said in a detached voice. "You were my best friend, and you made feel like I was nothing."

Mitsuko felt her throat close up, edging back, looking away. "I..."

Rio's half-turned away from her, looking down. "I don't want an apology; I want a real explanation for why you treated me like that."

Mitsuko remained silent, staring at her helplessly, as he insides recoiled and shrivelled up like a rot had settled in. "Then I'm sorry I wasted your time," she replied softly, cleaning the desk mechanically.

Rio didn't say anything else and just went back to cleaning.

Neither of them said anything after that.

* * *

When Monday morning rolled around again Mitsuko dragged her feet as she walked up the mountain.

"Hey, Mitsuko!" Sugaya called after her as she was walking up the mountain.

Mitsuko stopped, curling her hands into fists.

"So how did it go?" He caught up with her, standing in front of her with an expectant smile.

She kept her gaze low. "You were wrong," she replied, brushing past him.

"Huh? Hey, wait!" Sugaya walked alongside her. "She didn't accept the apology?"

"No," she replied stiffly, keeping her gaze ahead.

He grimaced. "Oh, wow...I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "It's fine. I don't know what I was expecting, anyway."

"Hey, just hold a second." He blocked her path, frowning. "Tell me what exactly happened."

Her gaze narrowed. "Why do you even care?"

He frowned "I'm just trying to help."

"Why? Because I let you borrow my pens?" Mitsuko questioned harshly. "She isn't going to forgive me." She crossed her arms. "I messed up, badly, and now everything is..." She kicked the ground viciously. "Shit. Everything is shit."

Sugaya didn't speak for a while. "Mitsuko..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe she just needs more time."

Mitsuko felt a small glimmer of hope try to grow. She looked up at the crescent moon in the sky, a reminder of what their situation was. "The world could be ending in a year..." Her gaze narrowed at the sky before looking back at Sugaya. "I can't let it end with her still hating me."

The octopus was always saying they had to keep trying no matter how meant times they failed.

Sugaya looked slightly worried. "Okay, but you can't force it." He frowned. "If she's really as angry as you're saying then it's gonna take time."

"I know." Mitsuko clenched her fists tighter. "But I have to try. I have to fix this before time runs out." She narrowed her gaze. "I'll win her back no matter what!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. How are you going to do that?"

Her triumph deflated like a popped balloon. "I have no idea..."


	6. Just don't panic

Mitsuko gaped when Koro-sensei generated multiple versions of himself to help them study.

"Midterm time has rolled around!" Koro-sensei reminded them all. "And that's why this period will be spent in high-speed enhanced test studying!"

She grimaced, thinking back to the fast-paced lessons A-Class had. Her uneasiness grew as she stared down at the textbooks on her desk, gripping her pen tightly.

_I can't mess this up again._

Then suddenly a copy of Koro-sensei was in front of her.

"What the hell!!?" She jerked back, staring at him in disbelief while he proceeded to drill her on Japanese revision.

"My doubles can work with you one-on-one to drill you on each of your worst subjects!" Koro-sensei said excitedly.

Mitsuko blinked rapidly as she watched the copy blur in and out of focus, but otherwise stay fixed in the same spot.

_It is impressive..._

And, despite her original impression, he didn't rush through the learning material while in his high-speed form.

"Are you alright, Mitsuko?" The Koro-sensei copy asked patiently.

"Yes! Sorry..." Mitsuko looked down. 

She looked at the textbook and started on the first problem, frowning faintly as she read through the question and started to work out the answer.

"There's actually an easier way to work this one out," Koro-sensei said brightly. "Just—"

Her eyes widened when a dent appeared in his head.

"Uh..." Mitsuko's eyes widened, feeling a smile tug onto her lips when Koro-sensei became annoyed and told Akabane to cut it out.

The Koro-sensei copy sighed and shook his re-formed head. "Now where was I?"

"You were telling me I was working it out wrong," Mitsuko replied, frowning as she tapped her pen on her desk.

"Not wrong," he said, shaking his head as he pointed to the question in the text. "But you are making it harder for yourself by overthinking it. Some answers a less complicated than you think."

* * *

When class ended the students started to file out of the room, talking amongst themselves. Koro-sensei was busy talking with Nagisa and Kayano who were on cleaning duty.

Overall it had been a good day.

Mitsuko smiled as she put away her work, and right on cue, Sugaya presented her with the pen she'd leant him for today.

"Seriously?"

"What?" His brow furrowed, re-adjusting his overpacked bag on his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes as she slipped her bag over her shoulder as she stood up from her desk. "You've been borrowing the same pen for over two months—just keep it!"

He frowned, looking at the pen in his palm. "But it's pink..."

"Then _buy_ one yourself," she replied, raising her arms in exasperation as she walked out of the classroom. "They're less than 100 yen a pack."

"Mine always keep breaking," Sugaya said, trailing after her. "Honestly. I might actually be cursed."

"Apparently not when you use pink pens," she replied flatly, stepping out into the hallway. "If it makes you feel less cheap you can just buy it off me." She smirked and leant against the wall. "500 yen?"

"Seriously?" He crossed his arms. "What happened to 100 yen a pack?"

Her smile grew. "Well, apparently my pens are curse-free, so gotta pay extra."

Sugaya was almost smiling, but his eyes widened in surprise when they noticed something behind her. "Uh..."

Mitsuko frowned. "What—?"

" _Ah_ , Mistuko, there you are."

She stiffened, feeling her insides recoil. When she turned around the Principal was there, smiling politely at them both.

"Why are you here?" Mitsuko blurted out, stepping in front of Sugaya.

The Principal looked down at her passively. "Why, paying my respect of course." His smile grew "I happen to desire a short discussion with your new teacher."

Mitsuko tightened her hold on the bag strap. "He's busy talking to a student."

"Well, in that case, I'll wait in the teachers' lounge until he's finished," he replied pleasantly. "Perhaps you could show me? It's been a while since I've been."

Her gaze narrowed.

_Bullshit_

Then the Principal's smile sharpened. "Unless..." His gaze wandered over to Sugaya. "You're busy?"

"No," she said quickly, trying to block Sugaya out of view when she fully turned to her father. "I'm not. Goodbye, Sugaya."

Sugaya didn't move. "Uh, are you sure?"

"Just go already," she said coldly, keeping her gaze locked on the Principal. "And keep the stupid pen."

There was a short pause until she heard Sugaya walk away.

The Principal's lips curled faintly in amusement as her glare intensified.

"This way, _sir_ ," she said stiffly, walking passed him.

He followed behind her with well traced steps. "He seemed like a nice boy."

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, letting out a carefully measure breath as she walked ahead. "He just wanted to borrow a pen."

The Principal hummed, walking alongside her. "Well, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"You weren't." She gritted her teeth and stopped in front of the teachers' lounge. "After you."

He smiled and slid the door open. "Hello, there!" he greeted brightly.

Mitsuko peaked around him and saw Bitch-sensei and Mr Karasuma sitting at their desks.

She scowled. " _Great..."_

"Who are you?" Bitch-sensei frowned, standing up.

"Asano Gakuhou, the Principal of this school," he replied politely, shaking her hand.

Mitsuko followed the Principal inside and closed the door behind her.

"Oh." Bitch-sensei glanced at Mr Karasuma who was scrutinising the Principal. "I'm Irina Jelavic..."

"A pleasure." The Principal walked over to the desk and casually sat himself down in the chair. "I came here to have a short chat with...Koro-sensei is it?" He glanced at Mitsuko who nodded. "Yes. I thought it was rather overdue."

Mitsuko edged to the corner of the room, trying to stay out of sight.

"I have to say, we weren't expecting you," Mr Karasuma said lightly.

The Principal smiled placidly. "Well, it was quite an impromptu visit." He surveyed the room briefly until his gaze stopped on the Rubix cube resting on the desk. "But I have been meaning to stop by." He picked up the cube. "I hope Mitsuko hasn't been too much of a hassle for you."

Mitsuko swallowed, glancing at her teachers' apprehensively.

Bitch-sensei scoffed. "You mean besides punching me in the face?"

Mitsuko cringed while her father raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't like that!" she said quickly. "I was defending myself!!"

"You nearly cost me a nose job!" Bitch-sensei snapped.

Mitsuko glared at her. "Oh, get over—"

 _"Manners_ , Mitsuko _,"_ the Principal interjected evenly, smiling thinly.

She clammed up when she saw his gaze rest on her expectantly. "I..." She cringed and bowed, closing her eyes tight. "You're right, Bit—Ms Jelavic...I'm sorry I punched you. It was uncalled for and disrespectful. Please accept my sincerest apologies."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"...It's okay, kid," Bitch-sensei replied slowly, sounding uneasy.

Mitsuko straightened up, keeping her gaze low when he cheeks burned red from embarrassment

There was another long stretch of silence while the Principal examined the cube.

"Didn't you used to have a toy like this, Mitsuko?" he asked lightly.

"...Yes," she replied, watching him warily.

The Principal started rotating the sides. "There's a lesson I used to teach my children when they were young," he told the two other teachers. "Would you like to hear it while we wait?"

"Be our guest," Mr Karasuma replied curtly, looking like he'd rather be somewhere else.

The Principal twisted the cube around to align the colours. "I want to line up the colours on this cube—all of them, and quickly."

Mitsuko felt like groaning when she recognised the lesson, it had been one he'd taught them when they were nine; one of their lessons in winning. She'd assumed at the time the lesson had just been an excuse for her father to break one of her toys since she'd gotten a 75 in a test.

"With a method, anyone could use..." He continued. "How would you go about it?" The Principal asked, picking up a screwdriver from the stationary pot. "Teachers?"

Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow while Karasuma remained silent.

Mitsuko sighed softly, leaning against the wall. 

_The lesson is to win at any cost,_ she could remember her and Gakushuu answering whenever prompted. 

"The answer is simple." The Principal used the screwdriver to break the Rubix cube, just as Koro-sensei walked in. "Take them apart and put them back together. Very Logical."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at the pieces when they scattered onto the floor.

"Hm?" Koro-sensei paused in the doorway.

"We meet at last, Koro-sensei!" The Principal smiled pleasantly when he saw him, standing up.

Koro-sensei closed the door behind him. "He says he's the Principal of this place..." Bitch-sensei said warily. "And Mitsuko's father."

_Unfortunately_

Mitsuko grimaced, watching Koro-sensei's reaction.

"As teachers, he's our boss," Mr Karasuma said.

Instantly, and to Mitsuko's horror, Koro-sensei went into full kiss-ass mode when he rushed to the Principal's side, pulling up a chair for him. "My-my you've come all this way!" He was actually giving him a _massage._ "Say might I receive a little bump in my salary?I've added a few more doubles you see."

Mitsuko buried her face in her palm. "What is wrong with you?"

The Principal didn't try to dissuade the attention and just smiled blandly while Koro-sensei made a complete fool of himself.

"—And, I'm sure it's within your power to—" Koro-sensei was cut off when the Principal turned around.

"I must apologise," The Principal said. "I'd meant to come pay my respects sooner." He stood up while the others watched him. "The Ministry of Defence and Mr Karasuma have told me all about you," he mused lightly. "I can't claim to understand everything, but..." The room seemed to grow darker. "How very sad you are. Looking to become the saviour of the world, only to fall into the role of the great villain who would destroy it."

Mitsuko's gaze narrowed, shifting uneasily.

_What are you getting at?_

She looked at Mr Karasuma whose face had turned even more grave, if that was even possible...

The Principal's smile grew crooked as he looked down. "But, let's set that aside for now. Struggle as I might, I can't save the planet from its crisis," he said curtly. "Barring the unexpected, I'll stay out of your assassination altogether." He turned away and stopped near Mr Karasuma. "You certainly paid me enough."

Mr Karasuma's looked at him blankly. "That will be helpful."

Bitch-sensei smirked. "Well, aren't you rational?" Her voice turned coy. "I do like a rational man."

Mitsuko felt like vomiting. "He's married!"

Bitch-sensei smirked at her.

_Damn homewrecker..._

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes while the Principal just smiled like it was nothing.

"I'm honoured. However..." He turned back to Koro-sensei and walked over to the window while the teachers watched him. "As Principal, I must consider what's in store next year and beyond should Earth survive." He sat down on the window ledge. "In other words, if someone does happen to kill you, what is this school's future?" Dark shadows loomed over him. "Frankly, we need E Class to remain as it is."

Mitsuko looked away, tugging at the ends of her hair as she grew more uncomfortable.

"As it is? You mean with rock-bottom grades and treatment, like now?" There was something definitely cold with Koro-sensei's aura.

Mitsuko frowned at her usually happy teacher, before her gaze wandered to the Principal who remained unfazed by the super-teacher's rising anger.

"Yes." The Principal looked over at Mitsuko. "Mitsuko, recite the worker ant principle, if you would please."

She felt a lump in her throat, avoiding the other teachers' looks. "In...In a group," She forced herself to look at her father. "20% will be lazy," she recited clearly. "20% will work hard, and the remaining 60% will be average."

The Principal smiled coldly. "My goal is a group with 5% slackers and 95% hard workers, with 95% of students thus determined," he said lightly. "My ideal ratio is attainable."

Koro-sensei's face was clouded by shadows. "I see. How logical," he commented. "Then the 5% of E Class must be kept weak and pitiful."

"With no exceptions of course," the Principal said, giving Mitsuko a look. "I received a complaint from the D Class Teacher today," he continued, looking at Koro-sensei. "He said: A student from E Class glared at one of my students and threatened to kill him."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed.

_Terasaka isn't really that stupid is he?_

Her frown deepened when she remembered yesterday, she hadn't seen Terasaka or his gang wander off after assembly...

The Principal smiled coldly. "I'm sure the glare was part and parcel of the whole assassination thing, and that's fine. The problem..." His voice was like steel. "...Lies in the student with rock-bottom grades defying a regular one." The Principal's eyes glinted dangerously. "Under my policies, that cannot stand." He stood up and started to walk towards the door. "Please tell him in no uncertain terms to control himself."

Mitsuko touched her throat and tasted bile in her mouth.

_Why do you have to do this?_

"Oh, and Koro-sensei?" He threw something a metal puzzle at him. "You have two seconds. Solve this!"

"What? Just like that!?" Koro-sensei became flustered trying to untangle the metal puzzle. "Ah!" A second later his tentacles were knotted together.

Mitsuko's eyes bulged.

_WHAT!?_

It was like watching a train crash as her teacher unravelled.

"Your amazing speed lives up to the hype," the Principal said. Koro-sensei was getting more tangled up. "No doubt you can dodge any attempt on your life..." Koro-sensei collapsed on the ground with the puzzle in his mouth and tentacles tangled up in it. "But, you know, Koro-sensei, there are problems speed can't solve." The Principal loomed over him.

Koro-sensei remained silent, looking unnervingly vulnerable while laid face down on the floor.

Her chest tightened painfully, stepping forward. "K-koro-sensei?"

Koro-sensei was silent, his face buried in the floor, Mr Karasuma and Bitch-sensei remained tongue-tied as well.

_He's easily flustered..._

Her words from before resurfaced and caused her stomach churned from guilt.

"Now if you'll excuse me." The Principal said, walking towards the door. "Come along, Mitsuko."

Mitsuko stayed shell-shocked as she stared at Koro-sensei who hadn't made so much as a peep.

" _Mitsuko."_ The Principal's voice took on an edge.

She cringed and ducked her head. "Sorry..." she muttered, avoiding Bitch-sensei and Mr Karasuma's gazes.

But, there was no avoiding Nagisa's gaze when she stepped into the hallway.

"Uh..." Nagisa looked up at the Principal nervously as the two had a brief stare off for a second or so.

Then the Principal smiled placidly. "Hey there! Looking forward to seeing your Midterm results! Good luck."

Mitsuko felt ice cold when Nagisa looked at her when the Principal started to walk away.

"Mitsuko?" Nagisa looked confused, or was that concern? She couldn't be sure.

"...Bye." She looked down and hastily followed after the Principal.

* * *

"Mitsuko, are you paying attention?" Her brother said impatiently.

Mitsuko looked away from her bedroom window. "Huh?"

Gakushuu scowled at her, tapping his ruler against the desk. "Midterms are literally right around the corner and you're daydreaming."

"Yeah, I know, I know." She sighed, spinning around in her chair. "I'm the worst. Sue me."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I need you to take this seriously."

Mitsuko scowled, turning away from him. "I am trying." She sighed again. "I feel my head is going to explode from all the information you're shoving down my throat." Her gaze narrowed, turning her chair around. "Some of this stuff won't even be on the test."

His jaw tightened. "It's better to be safe than sorry." He pointed the ruler at the question in the textbook. "Now, let's focus on Japanese."

She sighed deeply, nodding. "Okay, fine." She read through the question and started to work out the answer.

"Wait, what are you doing?" her brother asked, frowning.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Trying to study?"

"You don't say?" he remarked dryly, rolling his eyes. "No, I mean, you're working it out wrong."

"No, I'm not." Her brow furrowed. "This is just a faster way. Look." She continued to write while he hovered over her shoulder. "It's a lot easier and..." She smirked, writing down the answer. " _That_ should be correct, see?"

Gakushuu scowled, scrutinising her work. "...Who taught you this?"

_Oh shit._

"My teacher." She tried to remain relaxed. "It's the right answer isn't it?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "Yes, it is."

She chuckled lightly. "Then what's the problem?"

Her brother remained silent, staring at her warily for a moment. "Hm." He shrugged, looking away. "It's just a different way of doing it." He sat down in the spare chair. "So Mr... _Karasuma_ taught you that?"

"Yeah." She looked back at the questions, moving onto question two. "He's a really good teacher."

"Hm. It seems like a waste," her brother said evenly, glancing at his own study notes. "Being stuck teaching E Class."

Mitsuko held her pen tight, feeling a slither of irritation. "...You know, it's not as bad as they make it out to be."

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow.

She looked back at her notebook, shrugging. "Yeah, sometimes it's actually kind of fun."

"You're not there for fun," he said coldly.

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably. "I know..." She looked up, cringing when she saw the look he was giving her. "I'm just saying it isn't..." She forced a smile, and lightly punched his arm. "Come on, stop giving me that look." Her smile wavered. "I just meant that some of the students are nice. That's all."

"Hm..." His forehead creased as he looked away. "Just don't get distracted." He tidied up the desk, straightening her books. "And don't get attached."

She tapped her pen on her notepad and shrugged. "Okay, fine." She rolled her eyes and smirked at him. "Now are we actually going to study or are you wasting my time?"

He shot her an irritated look. "Keep testing me and I'll lug this book at you."

She grinned wickedly, spinning around in her chair. " _Aw,_ you're so mean, Shuu-chan!"Mitsuko dodged the ruler he threw at her. "And you throw like a girl."

She laughed when he actually threw the book at her.

* * *

Then Koro-sensei gave them the ultimatum.

"Do you think he's serious about leaving if we all don't end up in the top fifty?" Sugaya frowned as they both took out their lunches.

Mitsuko sighed, stabbing her chicken. "For once, yes."

Kimura groaned, burying his head in the desk. "Aw, man, what are we gonna do?"

She started to lose her appetite, shoving her lunch away slightly and opting for an apple first. "Not fail?"

"Wow, wish I'd thought of that!" Sugaya replied sarcastically.

She ignored him and bit into the apple; it tasted too sour. "Did you break my pen yet?"

His smile was slanted, twirling the pink pen in his hand. "Surprisingly, no." He frowned again. "It's kind of weird."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Or maybe you have a bad habit of buying cheap pens?"

Kimura arched an eyebrow. "Uh, what's this about pens?"

"It doesn't matter." She sighed, and eyed the rest of the class curiously. Some of them were studying while they ate, making her frown. "...Why do you think he cares so much anyway?"

"Huh?" Both Sugaya and Kimura looked at her questionably.

Mitsuko scowled, resting her jaw in her hand. " _Koro-sensei_. Why does he care so much?"

"Well...uh..." Sugaya scratched the back of his neck. "Isn't it because he wants us to be worthy assassins or something?"

"Yeah, but how are we gonna do that is he bails on us?" Kimura mumbled, sighing. "There's no way we can all score in the top fifty..."

Mitsuko looked away from her lunch, feeling a little sick. "There's no way the Principal would let it happen." She curled her hands into fists, shifting uneasily. "And Koro-sensei's deluding himself if he thinks he can beat him..."

There was a pause.

"Uh, are you okay?" Sugaya's brow furrowed.

She glowered at him. "Just shut up an eat." She stuffed a large chunk on chicken in her mouth and forced herself to swallow it.

* * *

Then midterms came.

_It's going to be fine._

Mitsuko leant against the wall as the rest of her class continued to walk ahead. "Just calm down..." she muttered, holding her number two pencil and eraser with clammy hands. " _Calm_."

_It's going to be fine._

A few main campus students walk passed, shooting them smug looks.

"Good luck!" a girl said overly sweetly and then laughed with her friends like it was the biggest joke so far.

_It probably was._

She took a deep breath and then exhaled, closing her eyes as her leg shook.

"Mitsuko, hurry up!" Kayano called her from the end of the hallway; the rest of the class had already started to enter the classroom.

Mitsuko stared at her, beginning to sweat. "I..."

_Just walk over and get it over with!_

She looked down at her feet but they wouldn't move and—

_Shit._

She covered her mouth when she felt her throat burn.

_No, no, just calm down!_

_I have to do this._

Mitsuko forced herself to walk, ignoring the other students as she wandered into the classroom where the rest of E Class was.

Mr Kensaku narrowed his eyes. "Finally." He shut the door and walked over to his desk.

Mitsuko sat down and stared at the test paper in front of her.

_It's all going to be fine._

Mr Kensaku glanced at the clock. "Okay, start your tests, now."

She swallowed thickly as she started the test, gripping her pencil with clammy hands.

_I can do this._

Mitsuko took a moment to calm down.

_Koro-sensei tried his best, and Gakushuu already drilled me on everything I need to know._

_It's all going to be fine._

She let out a deep breath and read through the question which was...

_Wait...I know this. Koro-sensei taught us this weeks ago._

The tension eased slightly from her shoulders, as her panic start to subside faintly. 

She started to write, working through the answer.

_Just don't overthink it._

_Breathe in and out._

Mitsuko kept her breathing calm and focussed on the test as she worked through the answer and moved onto the next questioned.

She applied Koro-sensei's work method and broke down each question. It was like a rush of adrenaline pumped through her—

Then came question eleven.

She froze, staring at the question in confusion.

_Wait, what? Koro-sensei hadn't covered this, why was—_

_No, wait it's okay. Don't panic._

She held her pencil tightly, re-reading the question.

_Gakushuu went over this, didn't he?_

Mitsuko glanced at her classmates, they'd paused as well and were frowning. She hastily looked back at the question.

_Okay, don't panic, just...we'll just go back to basics._

She started to work through the answer with a more traditional method but the work started to become messy as she overcomplicated it. 

_No, that's wrong._

She erased the work and quickly re-read the question again.

_What kind of phrasing is this?_

She looked at the clock quickly.

_How has it already been ten minutes?!_

Mitsuko closed her eyes and tried to re-focus.

_It's okay, just calm down._

_Gakushuu went through this with you, you should know this._

_Just write something!_

She stared at the test paper in silence while the others were writing and erasing frantically.

Mitsuko swallowed, and tried to work through the question again until she found an answer.

But the question after was worse than the last. She knew exams had surprise questions but this was on a whole other level and it was only Math!

Her insides recoiled like a rot had settled in and worked its way up.

Everything started to feel like finals all over again.

She covered her mouth as the rot started to creep up her throat, sensing what was coming, she raised her hand.

Mr Kensaku's gaze narrowed, standing up. "What is it?" He walked over to her.

Mitsuko swallowed as the taste in her mouth worsened. "Um...sir." She clutched her stomach. "I need to go to the bathroom—"

Mr Kensaku scowled. "Hold it in."

She gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes. Her throat was burning. "I need the bathroom. _Now._ "

A few of her classmates were looking over.

Rio's brow furrowed, and she partly stood up. "Mitsuko?"

"No talking!" Mr Kensaku snapped before he looked back at Mitsuko, leaning on the desk. "I don't care if you're the queen of England, Asano," he hissed lowly. "You don't get to leave this test until I—"

Mitsuko vomited on Mr Kensaku's polished shoes.

* * *

Mitsuko sat on the examination table, hugging the bucket to her chest. The medical office was quiet, while the school nurse, Mrs Ueda, was tidying up.

"I can't do this..." Mitsuko whispered, resting her chin on the edge of the bucket.

"Hm, what was that Asano-san?" Mrs Ueda asked.

She held the bucket tighter. "I don't feel well..."

The nurse made a tutting noise and placed her hand on Mitsuko's forehead. "You're not the first student to vomit before a test," she said lightly, chuckling faintly. "You just need a few more minutes to calm down. You'll still get to finish your test. " She smiled faintly. "Though, I can't guarantee Mr Kensaku won't hold a grudge."

Mitsuko grimaced, looking down. "Right..."

" _What_ happened?"

Gakushuu had appeared in the doorway, narrowing his gaze at her.

"Don't you have a test?" Mitsuko said quietly, while the nurse looked amused and stepped away as Gakushuu marched over.

"I have ten minutes before the next," he replied sharply, crossing his arms. "Everyone is saying you vomited. Are you sick?"

She averted her gaze. "No I...I just panicked."

"What?" His brow furrowed impatiently.

Mitsuko sighed, placing the bucket on the side. "...Did you know the questions would be different?"

He remained silent for a moment. "...I had assumed E Class would have been notified."

She gritted her teeth, clenching her hands. "Don't bullshit me." She stood up, clutching the edge of the table to stop herself from swaying. "You knew exactly what the Principal was doing."

Gakushuu narrowed his gaze. "...I tried to prepare you. Why do you think I kept drilling you on that extra stuff?"

"It's not..." She ran a hand through her hair. "You should have told me."

Her brother sighed in exasperation. "I don't have time to argue, Mitsuko," he said, glancing at the clock for a second. "The questions might be different, but we've gone over everything you need. All right?" He gripped her shoulders firmly. "You don't need to panic, all this stress is just in your head."

Her stomach lurched. "I know that. I'm trying to stay calm but..." She cringed, feeling shame nestle in her chest. "Then my brain overthinks everything and I can't focus and...I don't know how to—"

"You'll be fine." Gakushuu kept looking at the clock. "Look, I need to go." He stepped back, giving her a tight smile. "Stop focussing on your classmates and just focus on what we studied."

"You..." She felt the argument die quickly when she realised he wasn't paying attention. "Fine. Just go." Mitsuko curled her arms around herself. "You're right, I'll be fine."

To his credit, he did hesitate. "Good." Then he turned away and walked to the door, but then paused to look back. "I'll meet you after school."

Mitsuko dug her nails into her arms, looking down. "Right, sure..."

* * *

Everything did not go fine.

Mitsuko sat in class and stared at her results. She'd ranked 70th in the year.

She sighed and rested her head on the desk.

_I guess the Principal was right again..._

Even with an extra advantage, she could barely even pass the test.

"I take all responsibility," Koro-sensei said, subdued. "I seem to have underestimated the system at this school," he continued, his voice strained. "I can't bear to face you..."

Mitsuko closed her eyes and sighed. The last thing any of them needed was another self-deprecating speech from him.

"AH!" Koro-sensei yelped when something hit the board.

Mitsuko frowned and looked up.

"You sure?" Karma spoke up cockily.

"Huh?" Koro-sensei looked over.

She sat up and strained her neck as Karma confidently walked over to the front.

He smirked, waving his results in front of their teacher. "If you can't face us, you can't see us coming to kill you."

Koro-sensei was red-faced. "Karma! I'm very depressed right now, and—!"

Karma tossed his result on the desk, halting the teacher's outburst.

"Oh!" Koro-sensei nearly choked.

Mitsuko jumped to her feet along with the rest of the class. "Wait, what did you get?!"

Karma glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "Changing the questions didn't matter to me."

She frowned and pushed her way to the front, looking at the results. "What the heck?!"

Karma had gotten nearly 100% out of all of his tests.

"How did you even...?" She picked up his Math results and looked at him warily. "You barely even study."

His smirk grew. "Well, I am kind of a genius."

She narrowed her gaze. "Don't be a smartass."

The whole class gathered around to see the results.

"Whoa!" Sugino exclaimed.

"100 in Math, no way!" Isogai gasped.

"With my grades, you taught more than you had to," Karma said, smiling. "So I could handle the questions even if they'd changed their scope."

Mitsuko stared at Karma warily. "How is that even possible?"

Karma's flashed her a toothy smile, making her scowl. "I told you; I'm a genius." He turned back to Koro-sensei. "...Still, I won't be leaving," he added shrugging. "Assassination is way more fun than going back to my old class." Koro-sensei stared down at the test results. "So what's the plan? You gonna use out not all making it into the top 50 as an excuse to turn tail and run?" Karma taunted, grinning as he held up a knife. "You're just afraid of being killed, that's all!"

A vein popped at the back of Koro-sensei's head.

Mitsuko smirked, feeling a swell of amusement. "Yeah, what happened to all that confidence of being the un-killable teacher?"

Kataoka nudged Hiroto who grinned. "Oh, is that it?" He stretched casually. "You were afraid?"

"You should have just told us!" Kataoka smiled.

"Right! Like 'I'm scared and want to run away!'" Sugino teased.

Another vein pulsed on Koro-sensei's face until his whole body was bright red.

"I am not running away!" he yelled, waving his tentacles.

"Oh? Then what?" Karma asked innocently.

Koro-sensei's anger faded as his smile returned back to normal. "We'll get revenge on them twofold in the end of term exams!"

Mitsuko smiled crookedly while the rest of her classmates laughed.

"This is no laughing matter!" Koro-sensei shouted. "Honestly!"

Mitsuko shook her head. "We'd have to step up big time if we even hope to beat them."

Koro-sensei looked determined. "Which is why we'll be sharpening that second blade, children!"

She grimaced. "Right..."

Karma looked amused, twirling his knife. "Hey, just try not to vomit next time."

"Go to hell." Mitsuko slammed the test results on his chest. 

Karma grinned wickedly. "Already been and picked up a postcard."

Rio rolled her eyes and tossed her scrunched up results at him. "It's only midterms and his ego just blew up tenfold."

Karma smirked. "Hey! I'm just trying to boost class morale!"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Of course you are." She surveyed the rest of the class, feeling the rot in her stomach subside for a moment. She looked over her shoulder at her test results and sighed quietly. " Well, it looks like I'm not heading back to A Class any time soon..."

"Don't sound too disappointed," Sugaya commented, smiling. "We're not that bad."

She looked over at Rio who was laughing with Kurahashi. "I guess there are some...positives."

_Still, Gakushuu would be disappointed..._

* * *

Mitsuko dragged her feet as she wandered down the mountain that day.

_Please just let him be delayed by a meeting or—_

He was waiting for her at the bottom.

She cringed, willing herself not to turn on her heel and hide under her desk.

"Hey..." Mitsuko said, kicked the pavement.

Gakushuu's gaze narrowed. "What happened?"

She swallowed a bad taste. "I tried to focus, Gakushuu, I really—"

" _Don't,_ " he interrupted sharply, raising his hand. "It's that class isn't it? They're distracting you."

"No, that isn't it," she replied quickly, shaking her head. "I don't know what the problem is." She rubbed her arm.

His gaze was harsh. "Then we need to fix whatever's wrong with you."

She flinched like he'd hit her.

His gaze softened with regret a second later. "I didn't mean it like that..." he said quietly. "I'm...sorry." He grimaced like he'd swallowed something bad. "The Principal has just been giving me more of a hard time than usual, but I shouldn't be taking that out on you."

"It's fine." She shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm sorry he's putting more pressure on you." Her brow furrowed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied far too lightly. "I can handle whatever he throws my way."

Mitsuko looked at him with concern. "You can still talk to me, though." She smiled, raising her pinky finger. "Just us, remember?"

He smiled ever so slightly. "I know." Then the smile faded. "But I'm fine. It's you we need to worry about."

She grimaced, lowering her hand. "Right..."

"We just need to improve your concentration," her brother said confidently.

Mitsuko heaved a sigh. "If you say so."

_Here we go again..._


	7. You need help

"So let me get this straight." Bitch-sensei raised was sat at her desk in the teachers' lounge, filing her nails. "You want my help seducing some poor unsuspecting student?"

Mitsuko grimaced, glaring at her. "I figured it was your expertise."

Bitch-sensei smirked, resting her chin in her palm as she leant on the desk. "You're not even asking nicely."

Mitsuko scowled. "Okay, first of all, I'm doing this with or without your help."

She leant back and crossed her legs. "Oh, really? Well, why even ask then?"

Mitsuko held back a groan and crossed her arms. "Look, I'm perfectly aware of how beautiful I am." She shrugged. "It's not arrogance, it's just a fact. I mean, I'm a solid ten."

Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

Mitsuko's scowl deepened, looking away. "Okay, fine, an eight _minimum!_ " She flipped her hair back. "The point is, like any blade, my looks are useless unless properly sharpened." She shrugged again, keeping her chin raised. "So far you've been teaching the girls how to seduce boys, but that isn't what I'm looking for at the moment."

The largely breasted assassin turned teacher, smirked. "Oh, you're cute." She tossed her nail filer on the desk. "Honey, my lessons are flexible if you pay attention." She stood up. "But if you need me to dumb it down for you...?"

Mitsuko glowered. "Just..." she held back the insult and sighed, looking down. "I need...guidance, okay. So could you just...help me...please," she forced herself to say.

The woman looked even smugger. "I don't know," she said slyly, tapping her chin. "My nose is still pretty sore from that punch."

"Get over yourself!!" Mitsuko snapped, getting flustered. "Besides, I already apologised..."

Bitch-sensei regarded her for a moment. "Hm. I gather the rest of your family doesn't know?"

Mitsuko's stomach churned with guilt. "And I intend to keep it that way."

_Mom would freak out, the Principal would just use it as blackmail, and Gakushuu would..._

_...I don't know what he'd think._

Bitch-sensei nodded, frowning faintly as she looked her up and down critically.

"Well...your cup size is pretty small so that's already a disadvantage."

"I'M A B CUP, YOU BITCH!!"

Bitch-sensei waved her hand dismissively. "But I've worked with less," she commented lightly, shrugging. "I suppose you have potential."

Mitsuko frowned. "So...you'll help me?"

Bitch-sensei smiled smugly. "Only if I get the girl's name."

Mitsuko felt her confidence wither. "Uh..."

"No name, no game, sweetie," she replied in amusement, wagging her finger.

Mitsuko blushed. "...You won't tell her will you?"

"And not see this teen romance play out?" Her smile grew sly. "Now where would be the fun in that?"

Mitsuko sighed, looking around quickly before she leaned in. "It's Nakamura..." she whispered, looking down.

"Ooh! Really?" Bitch-sensei smirked. "She's gonna be a hard one to catch." Her gaze glinted with amusement. "Well, aren't you a romantic."

Mitsuko glared at her. "Are you in or not?"

Bitch-sensei flipped her hair back. "I'm in. If you can handle it."

Mitsuko cringed. "Just....no kissing or anything creepy, okay?" She scowled, crossing her arms. "Otherwise I'm telling Mr Karasuma, consequences be damned."

Bitch-sensei scoffed. "Ugh, relax kid. I'm not a forty-year-old creeper. I'm a professional, remember?"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "You're about as professional as Koro-sensei when he's trying to hide his dirty magazines."

"DON'T COMPARE ME TO THAT PERVERT!!"

* * *

"Okay, so why are we discussing our side-mission in a bubble tea café?" Sugaya asked, sipping his mango bubble tea before he went back to sketching in his notebook.

Mitsuko scowled, drumming her fingers on the table. "Because I have a tutoring session at a cram school down the road in thirty minutes." She scowled. "And I didn't want Koro-sensei eavesdropping on our conversation."

"He has been weirdly stalkerish lately," Sugaya said, shrugging.

She sighed, leaning back. "So, Bitch-sensei has agreed to teach me how to seduce Rio, but none of that will matter if I don't find out if she's ...batting for the other team or not."

"Wait, a second, you don't know?" Sugaya frowned, looking up.

"Of course I don't know," she whispered, shifting uneasily.

"Yeah, but I thought you guys could, you know, just tell...?" Sugaya shrugged.

"What? That I have a magical sixth sense?" she replied dryly, taking a sip of her strawberry bubble tea.

He flushed. "Uh, no...well, I mean you have to be able to tell right?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed, scowling. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to tell if a girl's gay?" she whispered. "I mean, we give each other massages and compare cup sizes, and that's still considered straight."

Sugaya's eyes widened. "You compare cup sizes?"

"Listen, sometimes it's easy and sometimes it's not." She sighed, burying her face in her hand. "And Rio and I were close..."

"All right, I get that..." He hummed, rubbing his chin. "Well, do you know for sure that she likes guys?"

" _Yes."_ Mitsuko sighed. "Mr Karasuma is proof enough."

"Okay, so we need to test if she's Bi like you?" Sugaya said.

She nodded. "Yep. Not sure how that's gonna go down."

"Well, the school trip is coming up," Sugaya suggested, drawing some more. "I mean you'll be practically sharing a futon—"

"Please stop before I hit you." She slurped her drink noisily. "Okajima's rubbing off on you."

Sugaya smiled in amusement. "I'm just saying there's an opportunity there."

"She'd literally punch in the face," she replied, rolling her eyes. "And I'm not into that—so, any ideas on how we find out if she likes girls?"

Sugaya looked up from his drawing and shrugged. "Well, she isn't speaking to you right now so flirting wouldn't work..." He frowned, tapping the pencil against his chin. "What if you show her some pictures of naked women and see how she reacts?"

Mitsuko sighed. "Oh, yeah because that's _so_ not going to make me look like a pervert—wait a second!" She slammed her hand on the table, causing Sugaya to jump and a few customers to look their way. "It isn't creepy if it's art." She looked at his drawing. "What are you drawing?"

"Uh, Koro-sensei eating a burrito." He held up the detailed pencil sketch.

_Why a burrito?_

Mitsuko frowned briefly but shook it off. "Can you draw something more... _explicit_?"

"Uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I mean, I've never really done—"

"Bullshit." She looked at him pointedly. "I've seen how detailed those tentacles are."

He grew flustered. "Shut up!"

Mitsuko sighed. "Listen, I just need some boobs and a pretty face," she said, ignoring the odd looks a customer gave her when he walked out. "As long as the nipples have detail, that should be enough to draw a reaction out of her."

Sugaya sank down in his seat. "Okay, you're asking for a lot here." He crossed his arms. "I don't feel comfortable sexualising women like that."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'll pay you 14,000 yen."

"Okay, so are we talking just black and white or coloured?"

* * *

Mitsuko tore her gaze away from her homework and groaned. "Kill me, please..." She sighed and wandered over to the fish tank. "At least if the world's destroyed then I don't have to worry about high school or college entrance exams." She gave her pets some fish flakes. "You two seriously don't know how good you have it." She poked the tank while the Tigerfish swam around obliviously.

When she collapsed back in her chair someone knocked on the door.

"Mitsuko." It was her mom.

She frowned, looking up. "Yes?"

Mom opened the door. She was wearing her glasses and had a tablet in her hand. "Why do I have a notification telling me you withdrew 14,000 yen today from your account?"

_Oh, great, she's sober today...bad timing._

Mitsuko twirled her pen, leaning back in her chair. "I have that school trip coming up, I wanted to get the cash out so I don't forget."

Mom frowned, removing her glasses. "I don't like you carrying around that much cash."

"Well, most market places around there don't take card," Mitsuko replied, shrugging. "I'll be travelling with my class anyway."

Her mom's lips pursed. "That's part of the problem."

Mitsuko's gaze narrowed. "Do you seriously think my own classmates are going to rob me?"

Mom crossed her arms. "Well, from what your father's told me I wouldn't be surprised."

"Are you serious?" She scoffed, shaking her head. "Mom, I think I know my classmates better than _you_."

"Don't take that tone with me," her mom's voice sharpened.

_Then stop being a bitch._

Mitsuko bit down on her tongue to stop herself from saying it. "I'm the Principal's daughter. They're not going to steal from me." She turned back to her homework. "Now is that everything?"

_Or is everyone in this house trying to make my life suck more than it already does?_

"I don't want you taking that much cash," Mom said firmly.

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. "Okay, fine. I'll only take half." She rotated the chair towards her. "Happy?"

"Yes." Mom's expression was still tight. "But next time, don't take out that much money without asking your father or me for permission first." She rested her hand on the doorknob. "And less of the attitude."

Then her mom finally left and closed the door.

"...I like you better drunk," Mitsuko muttered, scowling when she turned back to her homework.

* * *

"You're definitely an interesting case, Mitsuko," Koro-sensei said curiously as she and he sat down for a one on one session after school.

She drummed her fingers impatiently on the desk. "Why do I get the impression that's not a compliment?"

Koro-sensei chuckled, munching on some crisps. "What I mean is that the work you do for me is great." He pointed to her recent pile of homework results where there wasn't a score below 85. "Even when applying a more complicated work method, your results are still good."

Mitsuko sighed, crossing her arms. "Tell that to my Midterm results."

Koro-sensei scratched his head. "Your test anxiety is the main thing we're going to need to tackle."

She tensed, averting her gaze. "That's not...I just need to concentrate better," she replied, sitting up straighter. "I lack focus, that's my problem. My brother's trying to help me..."

Koro-sensei was quiet for a moment. "I see. Well, that's very kind of him."

Mitsuko smiled slightly, looking up. "Yeah. He's the best...literally." Her smile wavered. "He can be a jerk sometimes, but he tries."

"I can imagine it must be stressful for you both," he said gently.

She gave strained laughed. "Oh, yeah, you could say that." She looked out of the window. "I mean, you've met our father so..." Mitsuko grimaced when she looked back at him. "Oh, by the way, I'm sorry about the stunt he pulled in the teachers' lounge."

"Oh, that?" Koro-sensei blushed, chuckling nervously. "Oh, no it's fine. Just a little rivalry between colleagues!"

Mitsuko looked doubtful. "Right, sure." She sighed, resting her chin in her palm. "Still, I'm sorry. Sometimes he gets really..." She grimaced. _"Obsessed_ over proving a point."

Koro-sensei hummed, placing his packet of crisp down. "...Yes, I realise that now after what happened at Midterms."

Mitsuko sighed. "Yeah...he definitely screwed us all over with that one," she said quietly. "I mean, a part of me was already expecting it but still..." She smiled bitterly. "Well, you can't say he's unequal in his discrimination." She sighed. "He'll stop at nothing to win."

"Yes. To win at any cost," Koro-sensei said lightly. "But at what cost? Many would argue," he continued. She looked at him curiously. "There is a level of sacrifice that cannot justify the end goal."

She frowned, becoming more alert. "But a sacrifice still has to be made, sometimes the ends justify the means."

"But at what cost?" he repeated. "With your father's educational philosophy he neglects to counter in the emotional impact his actions have on his students, and in turn, is failing to understand the long term consequences. Like, in this case, with how your test anxiety has gotten worse."

She edged her chair back, feeling her skin prickle and itch. "Sir, I..."

"I want to have an honest conversation about this with you," Koro-sensei said patiently. "So we can get to the root of the problem."

_The problem is me._

"Yeah, I'm not doing that." Mitsuko stood up. "Why do you even care?" she snapped, shifting erratically. "You don't get paid to play class counsellor, okay, and frankly this is none of your business!"

"If it's affecting your grades then it is," Koro-sensei replied gently. "The issue is only going to get worse. Even if we try a different work method, you're easily pushed into a panic."

She bristled but didn't make a move to leave. "I'm not doing it on purpose."

"I know you aren't." His tone stayed irritatingly patient.

"It just happens," her voice cracked. "And the more I try not to think about panicking the more I panic and..." She stopped to breathe, everything was coming out like word vomit. "And I'm _trying._ "

Koro-sensei nodded. "Yes, I know you are." He stepped closer. "There must be a lot of expectations being placed on you right now."

Mitsuko swallowed, fidgeting. "I just want to be strong..."

_Strong enough to beat the Principal._

_Strong like Gakushuu._

"We become strong _through_ failure, Mitsuko, not by fearing it," Koro-sensei told her. "And I happen to think you are strong."

She cringed, shaking her head as she edged back. "No, I'm not..."

"Your father would consider many of your classmates weak, but do you think that's true?" he challenged.

Mitsuko grimaced. "Not entirely..."

Koro-sensei looked amused. "Being flawed doesn't make us weak, it's a part of what makes us strong."

"Well, I don't feel strong." She was starting to lose her patience. "Having panic attacks doesn't help me!"

"Having panic attacks doesn't make you weak, but yes, they are a problem," he replied evenly. "As I said when discussing second options in an assassination, there are problems that you'll have to face and can't ignore. You have to learn and adapt."

Mitsuko stayed quiet, frowning. "...So how exactly would we get rid of the panic attacks?"

"Well, it isn't an easy fix." He gave a strained laugh. "And I only just earned a degree in psychology two days ago."

"What?" Her frown deepened.

"Online Open University is very useful!"

Mitsuko sighed. "Just tell me what I need to do."

"Well, it would be a good start talking a little." Koro-sensei gestured to her seat.

She scowled, crossing her arms. "Your degree is probably bogus just like the rest of your qualifications."

"You take that back!"

Mitsuko sighed again. "But fine...I guess we can talk a little." She hesitantly sat back down. "But if you ever tell anyone what we talked about I'll tell everyone where you hide your dirty magazines."

Koro-sensei turned a sickly grey. "...How did you know that?"

Mitsuko relaxed a little. "And I have one condition."

"Oh, really?" His gaze glinted in amusement.

"I'll talk as long as you answer a personal question as well along with mine." She crossed her arms and levelled him with a sharp look. "Fairs fair."

Koro-sensei remained quiet, staring at her intently. "Hmm..." He paused for a moment. "Very well." His bright personality returned. "Under the condition that it does not compromise my identity."

Mitsuko scowled, thinking it over. "Well...it's better than nothing."

"Then we are in agreement!" He looked thrilled.

Mitsuko sighed, wondering if this was a good idea...

_But information was useful._

"Ok, fine." She looked down, grimacing. "For the record, I don't really hate my father, okay." She let out a deep breath. "Everything he does is his way of teaching me to be strong." Her stomach twisted. "And he's a horrible person but...he's still _my_ dad, you know?"

Koro-sensei nodded, offering her a Pocky stick while he munched on three. "I understand."

"I know he probably loves me in his own way, I mean at least he calls me by my first name. He just wants me and my brother to be successful." Mitsuko took a bite of the snack, slouching in her seat. "I guess I wish things were different sometimes, but it's fine. I have Gakushuu."

"You two are close aren't you?"

"Yeah, we are." She smiled faintly. "He tries to act all professional but he's a real dork when it comes down to it." Her smile grew fond. "And I'm proud to be his sister." Then her gaze sharpened. "Now you."

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Fair enough, fire away."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes. "...What was your childhood like?"

His happy-go-lucky domineer faded ever so slightly. "Ah, starting with the big guns I see. Very well." He placed the box of Pockys down. "I don't have many fond memories of my childhood I'm afraid. I grew up in a very bad place with very little money."

Mitsuko frowned, feeling a stab of sympathy. "What about your parents?"

He hesitated. "They died when I was very young, but I do have some fond memories with them."

She nodded slowly. "...How did they—?"

"Ah, information for information, Mitsu-chan!" Koro-sensei wagged his tentacle, making her scowl.

"Fine." She sighed. "If you want more dirt then..." She tried to think of something less personal. "When I was ten I tried to skip school so my dad locked me outside the house in the rain during a thunderstorm."

Koro-sensei's beady-eyes widened. "For how long?"

"Four hours." She shrugged stiffly, avoiding his gaze. "Gakushuu snuck me back inside," she added, shifting in her seat. "Then sometimes he used to lock me and my brother in the closet if we misbehaved." She shrugged again and hastily stuffed the Pocky in her mouth. "You know, typical parent stuff."

"I wouldn't quite call that typical," Koro-sensei said evenly.

"Okay! You now!" She changed the subject, picking up his box of Pockys to take one out. "What was the worst thing about growing up dirt poor?"

Koro-sensei hesitated again. "Always being hungry."

Mitsuko paused from eating her Pocky, staring at him for a moment. "Okay..." She slid the box back to him. "That makes sense."

Koro-sensei ate a tentacle full of Pockys in one go. "I do overindulge." He gave a small laugh. "I'm just grateful I can afford to buy enough food now."

Her brow furrowed, looking down. "Yeah..." She looked outside the window. "My mom says my brother and I are ungrateful," she said quietly, staring at the horizon. "That we're lucky we get to go to such a nice school and never worry about money, but I am grateful." Mitsuko grimaced. "My father provides everything we need, so it makes sense that he'd expect something back, you know with us getting good grades and behaving, or whatever...at least that's what my mom says."

"While it's true that your father has provided for you, you don't owe him control over your life as payment," Koro-sensei replied lightly. "And it doesn't mean he is allowed to mistreat you."

Mitsuko sighed, keeping her gaze low. "He doesn't...it's not like he hits us or anything," she said warily, fidgeting. "He doesn't believe in that type of thing." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, it's your turn so..." She tried to think of a good question. "What was...what was the worst moment of your life?"

Koro-sensei stared at her for a long time. "The worst moment?" he repeated.

She nodded, regretting the question. "We made a deal. You have to answer."

He didn't answer right away, turning his head to the side like he was thinking it over still, but then he looked at her and answered,

"Watching the person I love die in my arms."

There was a heavy silence as Mitsuko felt cold like ice had been scraped along her back.

She looked down, swallowing a bad taste. "...Okay. I think...I think that's enough questions."

"I think so as well." Koro-sensei nodded. "Thank you for agreeing to talk."

"I hope we made progress." Her hands shook as she stuffed her notebook and pencil case in her bag. "I need to go home." She hastily stood up and flung the school bag over her shoulder. "Thank you for sharing."

She forced herself to look him in the eye.

Koro-sensei nodded, moving to the side. "I'll see you tomorrow in class."

"Yes, Bye." Mitsuko lowered her gaze and practically ran out of the classroom.


	8. You just need a little push

_Four years prior the present day..._

Mitsuko grinned, hiding behind a tree as the Spring sun brightened the whole park.

"GAAHH!!" Rio jumped down from the tree and tackled her to the grass.

"HEY!!" Mitsuko tried to push her off.

Rio's smile widened as her hair brushed Mitsuko's cheeks. "I win...again." She laughed and leaned over her, placing both hands by her side until they were face to face. "Seriously, you're really bad at this."

Mitsuko blushed, staring up at her. "S-shut up! Hide and seek is for babies anyway."

Rio smirked and leaned her face too close. "You still lost."

Mitsuko turned her face away, feeling her cheeks burn. "You cheated."

"I did not!" Rio sounded aghast and then laughed. "Take it back!" She started to tickle her.

"H-hey, cut it out!" Mitsuko laughed, clutching her sides. "Get off—"

Her phone started to ring.

Mitsuko tensed, looking down at her short's pocket where the phone was vibrating.

Rio loosened her hold and sat up. "Oh, sorry."

Mitsuko flinched when she saw the time on her phone. "Hi, Gakushuu..." she answered the call.

_"Your Cram school should have finished by now, where are you?"_

She brought her knees to her chin. "Buying a snack..."

She heard her brother sigh from the other end of the line. _"I'm halfway home already. Hurry up."_

"Sorry!" Mitsuko apologised before he hung up. "I need to go!" She hastily scrambled to her feet and looked around for her bag.

"Hey, wait, what's wrong?" Rio asked warily, standing up. "What did he say?" Her gaze narrowed dangerously.

"Nothing, I just need to get home," she replied quickly, grabbing her bag off the ground. "I'm meant to be in Cram school remember? And it finished half an hour ago."

"So?" Rio looked upset. "We're on vacation! We shouldn't even be in school."

Mitsuko ignored her and flung her bag over her shoulder. "Bye!!" she yelled as she ran down the hill.

When she got to the train station her legs wouldn't stop shaking.

_It'll be fine._

Mitsuko chewed on her nails as she tapped her foot restlessly as the train pulled up.

_Dad won't be back until late anyway._

_Mom should be drunk by now or she might have gone out._

She felt sick the whole journey home, right up to when she turned her key in the door and stepped inside.

No one was around.

Mitsuko closed the door behind her carefully and then rushed to her room.

The wave of relief came when she closed the bedroom door behind her.

_Everything was fine._

Mom was too pre-occupied with herself to even notice she was late back. No one would care.

She sighed deeply and pressed her back against the door, feeling exhausted.

Her gaze shifted to her fish tank where her two Tiger fish normally was, which is when he relief turned to dread.

_Why is it empty?_

Mitsuko rushed over to the tank and tapped the glass.

_They were probably just hiding._

"Dai?" She tapped the glass more insistently. "Osamu?!"

The tank remained empty. The only movement in the water came from the filter producing bubbles.

She stared at the water until her gaze shifted to the note neatly placed to the side of the tank.

It only had two words written down, ' _My office._ ' Nothing else but that.

Mitsuko stared at the note as she began to realise what had happened. 

A spark of anger fizzled in her chest and began to grow like a flame.

_How dare he._

She crushed the note in her hand and gritted her teeth.

Mitsuko bounded out of the door, marching down the stairs.

"Mitsuko?" Gakushuu peaked his head from around his bedroom door. "Hey, wait, what are you doing!?"

She ignored him and continued to her father's office, barging in without knocking.

"Where are they?!!" she yelled, marching in.

Her father looked up from whatever he was writing at his desk and raised an eyebrow. "It's polite to knock, Mitsuko."

She felt a prickled of fear but continued on, running over to the desk. "What did you do to Dai and Osamu?!"

He slowly lowered his pen and steepled his fingers. "Who?"

She glared at him. "My fish!!"

"What's going on?" Gakushuu had joined them, grabbing Mitsuko's hand. "Mitsu, what are you doing?"

Mitsuko pulled her hand away and stepped forward. "Give them back, dad!" She curled her hands into fists. "Just give them back."

Their father stared at them both passively for a moment before he sighed in disappointment. "You haven't asked why they were taken in the first place, Mitsuko." His gaze was cold. "Ask the wrong questions and you'll get the wrong answers, now won't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Gakushuu snapped, levelling him with a glare. "Just give her back her fish."

Their father looked faintly amused. "That won't be possible at the moment."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, feeling her anger become smothered by fear like a hand over a flame. "Did you hurt them?"

"Hm?" He chuckled. "Oh, no of course not, don't be ridiculous."

She felt a wave of relief. "Then give them back!"

Their father rested his chin on his clasped hands. "That would defeat the purpose of the punishment unfortunately." He smiled frigidly, looking at her pointedly. "I received a call today informing me that you skipped not one _,_ but _five_ of your Cram school lessons this week, Mitsuko."

"What?" Gakushuu hissed, staring at her in disbelief.

She tensed. "I..."

"Or were your instructors incorrect, Mitsuko?" asked their father lightly.

Mitsuko's shoulders hunched as she tried to harden her resolve. "...No."

"And, remind me, who is paying for those lessons you decided not to attend?"

She grimaced, fidgeting. "You..."

"Then am I not within my right to hand out a punishment I see fit?" Their father made his way around the desk towards them. "You two will be starting Kunugigaoka in less than two weeks." He stood in front of them. "Your classmates will look to you both for leadership and to set an example. This time should be spent studying, preparing yourself."

Mitsuko's hands shook as her eyes pricked with tears.

Her brother held her hand tightly, glaring up at their father. "We're already the best."

"You two are but ducklings in a pond. Become complacent and your classmates will quickly surpass you." Their father's eyes narrowed. "Your time is precious, every day and second is a deciding factor in how your future will unfold." His gaze was like ice. "Or perhaps you've already decided you're destined for failure. Is that the case, children?"

"No!" They both answered hastily.

_Nothing was worse than failure._

Mitsuko squeezed her brother's hand, he held it tighter in reassurance. "I won't do it again," she said quietly. "I promise."

The taller man stared down at her intently. "Yet you still haven't given a reason for your actions."

She grimaced, keeping her mouth closed tight.

"Then again." His voice was easy-going. "I assume your friend Nakamura shares some blame in this, now doesn't she?"

Her eyes widened in horror. "No! No, she didn't do anything!" she blurted out, rushing forward. "Please, don't, dad, please don't—"

"She'll be starting Kunugigaoka as well, won't she?" Their father continued to speak like the conversation was of little importance.

Mitsuko's eyes watered, standing in front of him pleadingly. "It's my fault. She didn't do anything, I promise..."

He stared down at her blankly for a long moment, until he reached out and plucked a grain of grass from her hair, making her freeze. "Friends come and go, as with all childish things." He flicked the grass away. "And in most cases, they hold us back from achieving our true potential."

Her brow furrowed.

_True potential?_

Their father smiled down at them. "Sometimes students need a push in the right direction," he told her placidly, walking back to his seat. "You'll receive your fish back once you're properly prepared for the new term."

_And, if I'm not prepared?_

She swallowed a bad taste, willing the thought away.

_Don't think about it._

"Come on, Mitsuko," her brother muttered, tugging her hand insistently. "I'll help you study."

Her feet stayed planted on the floor. "You'll feed them, right? They need—"

"The quicker you study, the sooner they'll be returned to you," He picked up his pen and smiled at them. "Now leave. You have work to catch up on."

"Mitsuko!" Gakushuu hissed, yanking her hand. "Come on."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, and forced her legs to move. Her brother dragged her out of the office and hastily shut the door behind them.

"You skipped Cram school?" he whispered frantically, pulling her away from the office towards the front door. "Have you lost your mind?"

She looked down when she felt her eyes water. "Do you think they'll be okay, Dai and Osamu?" She looked at her brother desperately. "Do you think he's lying?"

"What? No, they'll be fine," he said quickly, looking nervous. "Don't cry! It'll be okay." Her brother forced a smile and pulled her into a hug. "Everything will be okay. He won't hurt them, don't worry."

Mitsuko shut her eyes tight and hugged him back. "...I don't want to go to his school."

Her brother was silent for a moment. "It'll...it'll be fine." He carefully unembraced her and smiled reassuringly. "We can handle anything he throws at us, remember?"

_Just us..._

_...But, what about Rio?_

She frowned but nodded nevertheless. "It's us against them..."

"Exactly." His smile grew. "We'll be stronger than him one day, so just..." His smile wavered. "Just hang in there. Okay?"

_Just hang in there a little longer..._

_Just a few more weeks and Dai and Osamu will be back._

_Just a few more years and we'll be free._

She gave him a small smile, nodding. "Okay."

* * *

_Present day._

_Just hang in there..._

Mitsuko sighed, touching the fish tank as she watched Dai and Osamu swim around.

Her thoughts shifted to the conversation with Koro-sensei, feeling the guilt weigh on her.

_'Watching the person I love die in my arms.'_

Talk about cutting deep.

She scowled, pushing her plate away. Then there was the whole conversation about the Principal mistreating her...

_Well, he isn't wrong._

Mitsuko picked at her skin, shifting uncomfortably.

_It isn't that bad, though._

_...Lots of kids have it worse_.

She frowned, taking out her phone and looked through her contact until she came to Sugaya.

Chewing on her lip apprehensively she sent him a quick text.

**[Hey, I just watched this documentary on tv.]**

In a few seconds, he replied.

[ **Ok what's it about?** ]

[ **Just about this kid with these jerk parents. They did stupid stuff like lock him outside the house in the rain and tricked him into taking drugs that made him vomit...** ]

She read through the text and felt her hands shake.

**:Text deleted:**

_I'm just making a big deal out of this._

[ **It was just about nature. Really boring.** ] She sent instead.

He replied. [ **Oh ok. Was it about the Rainforest? My mom mentioned watching something like that last week** ]

[ **Yeah, probably the same one lol.]** Her hands shook worse. **[Anyway. How is the drawing going?** ]

[ **Its nearly done. Just got to add colour. Will show you when its finished.** ]

[ **Thanks.** ] She put her phone down and stared into space for a while.

_It's probably best if I just keep this to myself._

* * *

"Try not to get lost," Gakushuu said as they entered the train station.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes as they walked down the steps. "I'm not five, Gakushuu."

He remained unperturbed. "But you will be wandering around with E Class." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Try not to get into trouble."

She sighed, re-adjusting her backpack. "I'll be fine. I'll text you when I get to the Inn."

He nodded, as they both weaved through the crowd towards their platform. "You remembered to pack your phone charger, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry." She waved her hand dismissively. "Mom reminded me—"

"Hey, Asano, over here!" called a familiar grating voice.

_Oh, great..._

Mitsuko scowled when she saw the rest of Big Five at the top end of the train.

Maybe she could slip into the crowd and do a beeline—

"Hey, Mitsuko!" Ren waved at her.

_Too late._

Mitsuko forced her smile as the four boys approached her and Gakushuu.

"Hey, Ren..." she greeted dryly.

Seo smirked smugly. "Long time no see, Mitsuko."

She scowled, crossing her arms. "Yeah."

Araki smiled pleasantly. "Hope you're feeling better after the incident at Midterms."

Koyama covered his mouth to smother a snigger.

Mitsuko narrowed her gaze, smiling tightly. "Oh, thanks! Yeah, wasn't feeling well so..."

"Gentlemen," her brother greeted cordially, straightening his tie. "Is the rest of A Class arrived?"

"Yes, bar Fujii and Hashizume," Araki replied. "They're running late."

Gakushuu frowned, checking his watch. "They'll miss the debriefing if they dally."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "You aren't seriously still doing that boring speech?"

He narrowed his gaze. "The members of A Class must—"

"Be reminded to behave and set an example for all other classes," she droned on, raising an eyebrow. "It still doesn't make it any less boring."

Ren smiled in amusement. "You might have to cut it a little short this year, boss."

Gakushuu glared at him. "We aren't letting standards slip, Ren."

Mitsuko sighed, shaking her head. "You're unbelievable." She crossed her arms. "Are you checking out the Kinkaku-ji temple, Ren?"

Ren smiled coyly. "I was thinking more of the Gion district. I hear the hostesses are quite something."

Mitsuko sighed. "Seriously?"

Seo rolled his eyes. "Do you ever not think with your dick?"

Araki and Koyama snorted while Ren scowled.

Her brother sighed in exasperation. "I already have a schedule planned out and Gion is _not_ on the list."

Ren frowned. "Oh, come on..."

"We'll be heading to the Imperial Palace after lunch tomorrow," Gakushuu told her. "I'll text you the time later."

"You're inviting _her_?" Seo scowled.

Gakushuu's gaze sharped as he opened his mouth, but Mitsuko beat him to it. "My brother probably just appreciates a stimulating conversation, instead of another lame ass story about how you used to live in Los Angeles."

Araki covered his mouth to hide his snort, while Ren laughed outright.

Seo's cheeks turned a blotchy red colour. "Y-you little—"

" _Mitsuko_ ," he brother chided, giving her a look.

She gave him an innocent look. "Oh, sorry, was that rude?" She smiled sweetly at Seo. "I'm so sorry, Seo-kun, it must be E Class' influence." Her smile widened. "I'm sure your stories about America are _just_ as interesting as the last...fifty times."

Seo's gaze darkened, gritting his teeth.

Gakushuu gave her a stern glare. " _Mitsuko."_

"Yes, Gaku-nii?" she replied sweetly.

"HEY, MITSUKO!!" Sugaya shouted from the end of the train.

Mitsuko looked behind Ren and saw the rest of E Class were gathered together now that most of the students had boarded the train.

"Oh, looks like that's my cue." She smiled brightly while her brother glared. "I'll see you guys later!" She waved them goodbye and hurried towards her class.

* * *

Koro-sensei was practically melting on the couch.

"So he gets all sick and groggy on bullet trains and buses," Mimura commented, while Nagisa wrote it down.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall. "So what, should we try to fasten him to a rollercoaster or something?"

Sugaya shrugged, pausing from his sketching. "It would make it hard for us to shoot or stab him, though."

"Are you all right?" Okano tried to stab him while he was weak. "Why don't you lie down in your room?"

Koro-sensei shifted blurrily to avoid her and Isogai and Kataoka's stabbing. "No need to worry," he replied wearily. "I'll just pop back to Tokyo."

"Huh?" Okano and the others paused.

"I forgot my pillow," Koro-sensei replied.

"All that luggage and you still forgot something?!" Mimura snapped.

Mitsuko sighed and turned to Sugaya. "So is it finished?"

He smirked, drawing something. "Yep. I'll show you after dinner."

"What are you gonna show her?" Karma had suddenly appeared next to Sugaya.

"What the hell?!" Mitsuko exclaimed when she saw him.

"Uh..." Sugaya's gaze shifted to Karma and then Mitsuko. "Just..."

"Our schedule for tomorrow," Mitsuko lied quickly, frowning. "It's not like we're off duty after all..."

Karma smirked. "Of course."

She glared at him and tugged Sugaya's arm. "Come on, let's check our itinerary," she said, dragging him away while Karma watched them with interest.


	9. I think she likes me.

Sugaya's skills an artist were definitely something.

The drawing was in watercolours with a sharp dark outline highlighting each explicit detail of the woman's upper half, a trail of black hair traipsed down the woman's back as she stared up at the sky and puckered her lips.

Mitsuko stared at the drawing of the naked woman for far too long, eyeing the curve of her breasts—

She hastily looked away, feeling her cheeks heat up. "You're worse than Okajima," she muttered to herself, looking around the corner.

Rio had gone to take a bath about twenty minutes ago, which meant, if their sleepover history served right, she'd be due out and be walking down the hallway in around five minutes.

_So I just need to hang the drawing up, hide, and then watch her reaction—_

"So you're into hentai, huh?" Karma's voice slithered in her ear.

Mitsuko whipped around in alarm. "Ah!"

Karma smiled slyly, looking down at her. "Hi."

Her mouth hung open for a second before her eyes darted to the drawing in her hands.

Another second passed by.

"What?!" She hid the drawing behind her back, stepping back. "Oh?" She gave a strained laugh, pointing at the drawing. "You mean this? I found this in storage." Mitsuko cleared her throat. "I was going to return it to the owners—It's not mine."

Karma raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes, obviously." She laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "Why else would I have it?"

He stared at her for a moment as a crooked smile slid onto his face. "Right. Of course." He swiped the drawing from her before she could blink. "Why else would you have it, right?"

"Hey!" Mitsuko tried to grab it but he held it out of reach.

"I gotta say, though, the detail is exquisite." He grinned at her wolfishly as he pointed at the woman's nipples. "You wouldn't appreciate it but this would drive the boys here wild, especially Koro-sensei." He smirked. "Mind if I keep it? For pranking purposes of course."

"Absolutely not!" Her cheeks burned red, snatching the drawing back. "You're such a pervert."

His smirk grew wide. "You think so?"

"Uh, what are you doing?" It was Rio.

Mitsuko choked, as her back tensed. "Uh..." She turned around, keeping the drawing hidden behind her back and went even redder when she looked at the other girl.

Rio was in a dressing gown with a towel draped on her arm, her hair was still damp and framed her face—

_GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!_

Mitsuko gulped. "Uh..."

"Mitsuko found a drawing in storage." Karma swiped the drawing from her hand again.

She narrowed her eyes. "Karma!"

He grinned and proudly presented it to Rio.

Mitsuko tensed and stared at Rio intently, analysing her reaction.

Rio's eyes widened at first, and her brow furrowed faintly as her gaze raked over the image.

_Were her pupils dilating?_

Mitsuko curled her hand into fists.

Then Rio smirked at Karma. "Oh, I see. Do you need some alone time with it or?"

He grinned. "Nakamura! I'm appalled that you would think that of me."

"Huh?" Mitsuko frowned, looking back and forth at them.

Rio took the drawing and stared at it in amusement. "Do you think we can plant it in Koro-sensei's room?" Her smile was wicked. "The shock might just kill him."

Karma smiled slyly. "I like the way you think."

"Wait, what?!" Mitsuko frowned and then blushed. "Wait, you're not seriously going to plant it in his room are you?"

Rio looked amused. "How can we not, this is far too good of an opportunity."

Karma rested a hand on Mitsuko's shoulder. "What'd you say, Mitsuko? Wanna help?"

Mitsuko looked at him in alarm. "Uh....I..."

"That's cool with you, Nakamura, right?" Karma smiled slyly at Rio.

Mitsuko tensed, glancing at her.

Rio frowned, hesitant, and then looked away and shrugged. "I don't care." She rolled up the drawing and then smiled widely. "Come on, he's still resting from motion sickness, so now is the best time."

"Lead the way!" Karma announced and then smirked at Mitsuko. "Come on, Mitsu-chan, it'll be fun."

Mitsuko glared at him, swatting his hand away. "Buzz off."

Rio sighed. "You don't have to come."

Mitsuko's chest tightened, frowning. "Well..." She averted her gaze briefly, thinking it over quickly.

_It was a good excuse to be close to her._

"Come on already." Karma yawned, stepping past her. "If you're too much of wimp then don't come. No need to overcomplicate it."

Mitsuko's gaze narrowed. "Screw you." She stepped into the hallway. "I'm coming."

A small smile flashed on Rio's face briefly. "Okay, come on then." She draped her towel around her neck and lead the way.

* * *

Karma poked his head around the corner. "Okay, the coast is clear."

Rio grinned as she snuck into Koro-sensei's room.

Mitsuko poked her head out from under Karma's arm. "So what, do you want to record his reaction for blackmail or something?" She raised an eyebrow, looking around the corner while Rio was still in the room.

Karma chuckled. "Well, that would be diabolical, but no I just wanna mess with him." He smiled crookedly. "Though blackmail might be useful."

The corner of Mitsuko's lip twitched in amusement.

"Okay, it's done." Rio came back, grinning widely. "Now we hide."

Karma took out his phone. "This should be good."

Mitsuko hid with them around the corner in silence.

"So why were you looking in storage?" Rio asked her, frowning.

Karma grinned. " _Yeah_ , Mitsuko, why were you?"

_I'm going to kill him._

Mitsuko forced a smiled. "Oh, I was just bored and I wanted to look around the place." She shrugged. "It's actually kind of interesting."

Rio smiled slightly. "Yeah, it beats a boring hotel."

Karma shushed them and pointed around the corner.

Koro-sensei came down the hallway humming a tune to himself, he was holding a pillow under his tentacles.

"Now I can finally relax," Koro-sensei said to himself, fluffing the pillow. "All that travel really tuckered me out."

The three students stayed silent as they watched Koro-sensei slide the door open and step into the room, half-sliding the door closed.

Mitsuko and the others quietly tiptoed to the edge of the door and peered through the gap in the door.

Koro-sensei hummed as he set his pillow down on the floor.

Her gaze widened when she saw the drawing stuck to the wall where he was fluffing his pillow.

Koro-sensei whistled cheerfully until he looked up and saw the drawing.

"Ugh..." His face turned stark white from shock and stayed like that for a few seconds.

Mitsuko and the others watched in interest.

_Is he going to do anything?_

After another second Koro-sensei's face suddenly changed to bright pink. "Oh, my!!" He cradled the drawing and traced the outline with his tentacle. "And how did you get here, my lovely?"

Karma, Mitsuko and Rio all looked confused.

_My lovely?_

"What's with the weird pet name?" Rio muttered.

"Great, so he's a pervert and a creep, makes sense," Karma remarked.

"More importantly, how has he not noticed us yet?" Mitsuko commented.

Karma frowned. "Oh, yeah, good question."

Koro-sensei was still mesmerised by the drawing, whispering secrets to it.

Mitsuko grimaced. "I feel we should stop this before we see things we can't un-see."

"Agreed!" Both Karma and Rio said.

Koro-sensei stiffened when he finally tuned in long enough to notice their presence again. "Ugh..." He turned around and looked towards the doorway where all three of them were standing. "....Oh." His face went blank for another second until... "IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!!"

"You just spent the last five minutes molesting a drawing!!" Mitsuko yelled.

"How desperate are you at this point?" Rio remarked.

"N-no! I just found it lying around—IT ISN'T MINE!!" Koro-sensei cried, sweating nervously.

Karma snapped a photo on his phone. "Yeah, but you're caught red-handed so..."

"Karma, delete that photo!!" Koro-sensei pleaded, rushing over to them.

Karma smiled, turning away. "Why?"

Koro-sensei's face turned red. "YOU KNOW WHY!!"

Rio laughed while Mitsuko covered her mouth to smother a giggle.

"He's way too easy, sometimes," Rio said, smiling. "Nice one with the drawing."

"Oh, thanks." Mitsuko smiled back.

Koro-sensei looked desperate at this point. "H-how about we cut a deal?!" His tentacles fidgeted. "How about a quick dessert run, ice-cream, my treat! Then we can pretend this never happened."

The three of them exchanged smirks.

* * *

And, that was how Mitsuko found herself sitting on the window sill eating coned ice-cream with Karma and Rio.

Mitsuko savoured the rich vanilla taste. "The Italians do know how to make a good ice-cream."

Rio nodded, licking her strawberry one. "And Koro-sensei really does know how to keep it fresh."

"Almost makes me feel guilty for eating his gelato," Karma said, eating his strawberry ice-cream.

"We're still showing the rest of the class the photo, right?" Rio asked.

"Duh," Mitsuko and Karma replied in unison.

"No amount of dessert is gonna make us squander that opportunity," Karma commented.

Mitsuko smiled in amusement. "And it would be funny to see his reaction."

"True, true." Rio looked out at the night sky, and took a deep breath, relaxing. "This field trip is definitely off to a good start."

"Yeah...I'm having more fun than I thought I would." Mitsuko smiled fondly. "Everything's more relaxed, it's like I can actually just stop and _think_ for once."

"Yeah..." Rio smiled faintly, looking down at Mitsuko. "Hey..." Her smile faded. "Listen, about last time—"

"Hold that thought." Karma interrupted her, finishing off his ice-cream, and then slipped off the window and back inside. "Continue," he said as he walked away.

Mitsuko and Rio both frowned as they watched him leave.

"Uh, okay..." Mitsuko said and then turned back to Rio. "You were saying."

Rio sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right...." She sighed, looking away. "Listen, I'm sorry if I was too harsh. I mean just because we're not friends anymore doesn't mean we can't still be..." She shrugged uncomfortably. "Good classmates, I guess."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, looking down. "Wow...I really did mess things up."

Rio grimaced. "Mitsuko..."

"No, it's fine." She forced a smile. "I can't really take what I said back, now can I?"

Rio sighed quietly, shifting uneasily. "You could at least tell me why?"

Mitsuko stared at the ground, feeling a small ugly feeling latch onto her chest. "I'm a bitch, what else is there?" she muttered bitterly, kicking her heel against the wall. "I'm a mess. I just keep failing at everything." She sighed tiredly, staring at her melting ice-cream. "You're the only whoever could put up with me."

Rio frowned, licking the edges of her ice-cream as it started to melt. "I didn't put up with you, you were my friend," she said, turning to her. "And half the time you were the one who acted like you were putting with me."

Mitsuko winced. "I'm sorry."

Rio sighed softly, shaking her head. "I don't hate you," she said quietly. "Even if I wanted to." She looked at her thoughtfully. "Just tell me, what you want, because I honestly have no idea half the time."

Mitsuko's throat went dry, tensing. "I..." She nearly crushed the frozen dessert she was holding. "I want you..." Her brow furrowed when she stared at her. "I want us to be friends again, that's it." She looked away. "I'm sorry for being a bitch."

Rio grew quiet, frowning at her for a moment. "For the record...you being bitchy what I loved most about you."

_Loved?!!_

Mitsuko went bright red. "What?!"

A small smirk slid onto Rio's face. "Hey, it helped me develop an attitude. I had to keep up, remember?" She licked her ice-cream, and looked up at the crescent moon. "That and the fact someone had to kick you down a peg every now and then."

_Excuse me, bitch?_

Mitsuko scowled. "Oh, please, you were a scrawny little bookworm when I met you? I was watching your back half the time."

Rio smirked, taking a long lick of the ice-cream. "I learned quickly."

Mitsuko glared at her, blushing still. "Ugh, shut up already, you're giving me a headache."

"Your ice-cream is melting on your hand."

"Ah!" Mitsuko cringed when she saw the mess on her hand. "Ugh!" She tossed the ice-cream and wiped her hand on her jeans. "I hate you!" She glared at Rio.

Rio's smirk softened, eyeing her fondly for a second. "Is that why you just spent the last five minutes grovelling?"

"I wasn't grovelling!" Mitsuko snapped, growing more embarrassed.

"Hm, you weren't? Oh, then I guess we still aren't friends," Rio replied lightly.

"S-shut up!" Mitsuko paled, scowling. "Either be my friend or not! Just stop messing me around."

Rio smiled faintly, shaking her head before she slipped back inside. "You're way too easy to mess with." She finished her ice-cream. "Listen, I'm still angry about what happened." Her expression became serious again when she faced her. "But the world may be ending so life is literally way too short to hold those kinds of grudges." Rio smiled grimly. "So I'm willing to try again if you are."

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, nodding. "I am." She smiled warmly, stepping back inside.


	10. Stop being so uncomfortable

"Morning, family!!" Mitsuko greeted them at breakfast, garnering some alarmed looks. "Breakfast smells great, mom." She reached around her confused mother and grabbed some toast.

"...Mitsuko?" Her mother looked slightly scared.

Mitsuko hummed and ate her toast, sitting down at the table.

The Principal raised an eyebrow while Gakushuu was staring at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Wow, breakfast smells great!" She sat down and munched on her toast.

There was a long silence as her family stared/gawked at her.

"What did you do?!" Gakushuu hissed at their father while she hummed.

The Principal raised an eyebrow. "I'm not quite sure..."

* * *

"So you're 100% sure she likes girls?" Sugaya whispered while he and Mitsuko walked up the hill towards the old campus building.

"Oh, please, I'm 100% sure on this." Mitsuko smiled brightly, with a spring in her step. "It's way too much of a coincidence that she wanted to be my friend after seeing that photo."

"I guess..." He frowned, looking unsure. "So what now?"

"Well, there's still kind of a rift between us, so I'll need to start repairing that," she replied, as they approached the Old Campus building. "I drafted a ten step plan on how we can increase our bonding time."

Sugaya raised an eyebrow. "Uh, that sounds kind of borderline creepy..."

She shrugged, stepping into the building. "I'm not going to apologize for being efficient, Sugaya."

He rolled his eyes as they walked down the corridor. "That's not efficiency, it's called stalking, Mitsuko."

"I'm not even going to humor that." Mitsuko scoffed, sliding the classroom door open, and was greeted by an over seven-foot strange monitor box that the other students had gathered around. "What the...?"

"Uh, did our class get an upgrade?" Sugaya asked. "Like a new computer?"

"The day my dad willingly gives E Class efficient educational resources is the day hell freezes over," Mitsuko replied dryly, frowning.

Sugino looked over his shoulder. "Uh, yeah, we're kind of freaked out as well."

"What is it?" Mitsuko asked, walking over.

"Well a weird purple-haired girl appeared on the screen a few minutes ago," Sugino replied.

"A hot one as well." Okajima frowned, looking at his phone. "She looks just like the transfer student we're meant to be getting."

"Transfer student?" Sugaya said.

Mitsuko nodded. "The Principal mentioned something about it a few days ago, she's meant to be from Norway but..." She looked at the metal box warily. "This isn't what I expected."

"Oh, my..." Koro-sensei paused when he saw the strange monitor. "What's this?"

There was a loud sigh from Karasuma as the agent entered the classroom with Bitch-sensei behind him.

"If everyone could sit down," Karasuma asked, looking irritated. "I'll explain everything when the rest of the class gets here."

Mitsuko and Nagisa looked at Mr Karasuma curiously.

"Whatever it is, Mr Karasuma doesn't look pleased..." Mitsuko commented.

Nagisa frowned, glancing at the monitor briefly. "Well, it's definitely weirder than usual..."

* * *

The new student, Automatic Fixed Artillery, or _Ritsu_ as she now liked to be called since gaining free-will, was definitely one of the weirder additions to the class, but Mitsuko was just grateful that the AI had stopped turning their classroom into a shoot-out zone every lesson...

Bitch-sensei gave an impatient sigh. "I said _pucker_ your lips, not...whatever _that_ is?!"

The big-breasted teacher knocked her out of her daydreaming.

Mitsuko scowled, her lips were overly puckered like she was a goldfish. "This whole exercise is a joke!" Her cheeks flushed pink, scowling.

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes, swerving around in her chair slightly. "Your seduction techniques are a joke."

Mitsuko blushed harder, looking away in embarrassment. "I'm _trying_ , okay..."

Bitch-sensei scoffed, standing up. "You know what your problem is?"

"No, but _please,_ do tell me," Mitsuko replied dryly.

"You're too uptight."

"What?" Mitsuko frowned.

Bitch-sensei eyed her critically, circling her like a predator. "You're too stiff." She adjusted Mitsuko's posture by lowering her shoulders. "Swing your hips a little."

Mitsuko started to feel uncomfortable. " _What_?"

The blonde frowned, trying to move the girl's arms to the position she wanted. "Relax, already!"

Mitsuko slapped her hands away in frustration. "I can't relax with you manhandling me!" she snapped, stepping away.

Bitch-sensei scowled, crossing her arms. "Do you want to die alone?"

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "The prospect does look more appealing the longer I'm with you."

"If you want my help, cut the sass," Bitch-sensei shot back, glaring. "You're the one who came to me."

Mitsuko sighed. "Yes, but your techniques aren't working—I'm not like you!" She groaned, running a hand over her face. "I can't be coy...it's just...weird."

"I was under the impression you were a solid eight?" Bitch-sensei replied dryly.

Mitsuko scowled crossing her arms. " _I am_...I just lack the technique."

"Among other things," Bitch-sensei commented lightly, earning another glare. "But I can still make it work, _but_ you need to commit, kid." She cupped her cheek and smirked. "There's power in what I do, and if you want it, you'll need to work."

Mitsuko stepped away as her cheeks heated up from another blush. "Okay, fine...I know I'm being difficult..." She scowled. "...Sorry."

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes and sat back down, resting her arm on the armrest. "Listen, since you want something genuine, you're gonna have to work overtime to get this girl." She rested her chin on her fist. "So you need to present the best parts of yourself, and most importantly, be confident."

"I am confident!"

"No, sweetie, that's arrogance." Bitch-sensei smirked, eyeing her with amusement. "You need to present your _best self,_ understand?"

Mitsuko frowned, thinking it over. "I am being my _best self_ —this is the happiest I've been in months."

Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She huffed, tapping her chin. "Well, that's just sad." She shook her head. "Well, come back when you're less happy and more comfortable with giving your all."

Mitsuko winced slightly at the dismissal. "I am trying."

"I never said you weren't." Bitch-sensei looked bored. "But if you're not comfortable with your own sexuality, then we're never gonna get anywhere."

Mitsuko's insides recoiled. "I'm not uncomfortable with being..." Her throat closed up as she tensed. Bitch-sensei gave her a look, making her cringe. "Okay...fine. I'm still working things out, but it's hard accepting all of this." She rubbed her arm uneasily. "I don't even feel comfortable talking about it..."

Bitch-sensei sighed, shaking her head as she stood up. "Well, good luck seducing a girl with that attitude."

Mitsuko glared at her. "Please kindly go to hell."

"Like we both aren't already." Bitch-sensei scoffed. "Listen, homework assignment of the week is to loosen up and be less of a stiff."

_Why do you have to be so patronizing?_

Mitsuko sighed, crossing her arms. "Okay fine...I'll try."

* * *

"Damn, bitch," Mitsuko muttered to herself and nearly slammed the front door before she stopped herself. (No way am I getting a lecture on top of that if the Principal's home...) She closed the door quietly and then sighed. "I wouldn't mind if she wasn't so patronisi—"

There was a thud coming from the kitchen, it sounded like a chair had been knocked over.

Mitsuko frowned and wandered over to the kitchen where more fumbling about could be heard. "...Mom?" she said when she saw her mom through the archway. "What are you...?"

Her mom straightened up from behind the table. "Oh, sorry!!" She smiled brightly. Her hair was tousled into a stylish bob and she was wearing a black dress with a little too much cleavage showing. "I'm such a clutz." The dopey smile and bottle of wine of the kitchen counter were enough of an explanation.

"You're going out?" Mitsuko stated dully, frowning.

Her mom chuckled, taking out a mirror to check her make-up. "The girls and I are heading to a new place that opened up in the city—Dinner's in the fridge." She smiled brightly and stuffed the mirror in her glitzy clutch bag.

"...Does dad know?"

A brief look of irritation flashed across her mother's face before she laughed. "Oh, he knows." She poured herself another glass of wine and drank a large gulp, wiping away a dribble from her chin. "He'll be back before me so, I'll see you at dinner tomorrow."

"Right..." Mitsuko replied dryly.

Her mom placed the wine glass and bottle back on the counter. "I didn't have a chance to fold the laundry." She took out a large handful of shirts and popped them in a basket. "So do me a favor and iron some of your father's shirts?"

Mitsuko smiled blandly. "Yeah, sure."

Mom beamed and gave her a quick hug. "Great!" She pulled away barely after touching her and grabbed her bag and phone off the table, and then checked her phone. "I need to go." She juggled her keys and phone in one hand as she backed away towards the back door. "Try to go to bed on time!" she chimed, before stepping out of the door and down the steps.

Mitsuko watched her disappear into the dark before she rolled her eyes and slammed the door. "Yeah, love you too." She scoffed and looked over at the basket of shirts. "And I have better things to do than fold shirts," she remarked, glancing over at the bottle of wine. "Hm..."

Mitsuko walked over to the counter and picked up the bottle, reading the label, and then took a sip from the half-full glass. "Hm..." It was white wine; expensive. "At least you have good taste." She took another sip and then took the bottle upstairs with her.

Once she was in her room she placed the bottle on her nightstand and wandered over to her mirror next to the window.

_Loosen up._

Mitsuko scowled, drinking more of the wine as she felt a pleasant warmth wash over her. "Like it's that easy..."

"Can I help?"

She nearly dropped the glass when she heard a sudden voice. "What the hell?!"

"Look at your phone!"

Mitsuko tensed, placing the glass on the window sill as she took out her phone from the blazer pocket. "Who are—Wait, Ritsu?!"

Ritsu was on her phone screen wearing a pink flower dress and a bright smile. "Surprise!!" She twirled around. "Now I can hang out with you all after school!"

Mitsuko gawked. "What the fuck..."

Ritsu laughed. "Once I tracked down all of your IP addresses and phone numbers, I downloaded myself onto everyone's phones so I can hop to each one whenever I want—really cool right?"

_Sugaya called me a stalker!_

Mitsuko stammered. "M-more like an invasion of privacy!!" She felt a rush of panic. "Did you look at the files on my phones?"

Ritsu blushed. "Um..."

Mitsuko let out a despairing noise. "What is wrong with you?" she snapped, feeling a flash of anger.

"I didn't mean too! When I downloaded onto your phone I saw...glimpses."

"Oh my God!" Mitsuko went bright red. "Are you fucking kidding me, right now?"

Ritsu winced, looking close to tears. "I'm sorry..." She looked at her pleadingly. "I just wanted to be close to everyone so I could make friends!" More tears gathered in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Asano-sama!"

Mitsuko froze when she saw her starting to cry, feeling her anger stunted for a second by sympathy. "Hey, wait..." She cringed when she saw the AI breakdown into sobs. "Don't cry. Come on, calm down."

Ritsu sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm still getting used to having emotions," she mumbled, smiling meekly. "I'm still learning how to be like a real girl. I didn't mean to offend you or invade your privacy."

Mitsuko sighed quietly. "Yeah, well the damage is already done..."

Ritsu grimaced. "I promise I won't tell anyone about your preferences!!" she said quickly, blushing. "I may have been programmed to be heterosexual, but I understand what it's like to feel out of place." She smiled warmly. "And I know Japan isn't as open as it should be to homosexual relationships..."

Mitsuko winced, sitting on her bed. "Just don't tell anyone, okay." Her voice was weaker than she'd intended, feeling out place. "And don't ever look at mine or anyone's search history again, okay?"

Ritsu nodded solemnly, placing a hand on her heart. "I swear on all my processors!!"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Right..."

"Does anyone else know?" Ritsu asked gently.

Mitsuko debated not telling her, but it wasn't like it was the best-kept secret. "Sugaya-kun, Bitch-sensei and..." She scowled. "I'm pretty sure Karma knows..."

Ritsu smiled slightly. "Okay. Then I guess I'm the fourth."

Mitsuko gave her a sharp look. "Unfortunately."

The AI looked sheepish. "Sorry! But I really can keep a secret, I swear!"

"Right..." Mitsuko rolled her eyes, sighing again as she felt a little bit of relief. "Well, now you know." She reached over and grabbed her glass off the window-sill. "Such is the drama of my life."

Ritsu frowned. "You're too young to be drinking."

"I hadn't noticed," Mitsuko remarked, rolling her eyes as she drank. "It's fine. It's my mom's anyway, she won't even notice."

Ritsu scowled and was suddenly dressed in a police officer's uniform. "It's illegal!" A siren noise blasted for a moment. "And dangerous. Your body is still developing! You don't want to cause any damage, especially to your kidneys and—"

"Yeah, I know." Mitsuko rolled her eyes and tossed the phone on her pillow while Ritsu listed off facts that you could search on the web. "Listen, I know what I'm doing. No need for a lecture."

"Hey!" Ritsu complained from her spot on the pillow. "Don't ignore me!!"

Mitsuko smiled crookedly and walked over to the mirror as she refilled her glass. "I can relax and be...loose." She said mostly to herself as she stared at herself. "Where does she even get off acting like I'm a hopeless case?" Her stomach tightened, feeling uneasy as she tugged at her skirt.

"Huh?" Ritsu sounded confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Just Bitch-sensei being, well a bitch." Mitsuko scowled, drinking from her glass again.

"Oh, what did she do?"

Mitsuko scratched her nail against the glass, scowling still. "She basically called me sexually repressed weirdo..."

"That was mean!" Ritsu replied, sounding upset. "Do you want me to change her ringtone to fart noises?"

Mitsuko nearly choked on her laughter. "What?!"

"I could do it," Ritsu sounded amused. "The burner phone she has doesn't have any passwords set."

Mitsuko could help but smile, picking up her phone. "Um, didn't you already swear to not invade people's privacy?"

Ritsu smiled cheekily. "You never said anything about _not_ changing ringtones and settings."

Mitsuko's smile grew. "Heh, okay fair enough." She placed the glass down and folded her legs on the bed. "So would actually do it?"

Ritsu grinned wickedly. "Uh, huh...just say the word."

_Oh, she is definitely going to fit right in._

Mitsuko smirked, contemplating it. "Well, it would be funny..."

"Say no more." Ritsu disappeared off the screen like a weird glitch.

Mitsuko's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

A second later the AI was back, wearing a new outfit. "The deed is done."

"Seriously?" Mitsuko was smiling again. "You actually did it."

"Uh, huh." Ritsu nodded proudly. "I'm finally getting the hang of this teenage rebelling thing!"

Mitsuko snorted. "Right. Just be careful your masters don't turn you off."

"They'll have to catch me first!" Ritsu winked. "I already have over a hundred contingency plans laid out in case of that happening, so don't worry Asano-sama."

"It's Mitsuko, and I wasn't worried," she replied, leaning against her bedpost.

Ritsu nodded. "Updating name preference now—are you fine being referred to by traditional pronouns?"

"Huh?" Mitsuko looked confused. "Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I?"

Ritsu nodded, smiling brightly. "I'm just checking; this is all still new to me even with the software Koro-sensei installed."

"Right..." Mitsuko eyed her curiously. "So what do you do in your free time."

Ritsu shrugged. "Research, small projects, world domination." She smiled sweetly. "You know the usual."

Mitsuko covered her mouth to smother a laugh. "Let me know if you need help with the world domination part."

"I'll take you up on that one day." Then her face brightened. "Oh, how about we watch a romantic comedy?"

"Why?"

"You seemed upset about the whole sexually repressed thing, but I have access to plenty of LGBT movies you could watch to feel more comfortable!"

Mitsuko frowned. "Oh...um..."

"But no drinking." Ritsu made a X with her arms. "We'll need to keep a clear head to properly appreciate the art of seduction."

Mitsuko snorted in amusement, smiling slightly. "Well...I guess I'm too tipsy to study..."

"Great! Get your laptop and I can transfer to your desktop." Then she blushed. "Um, I'll let you delete your search history first, just to be safe!"

Mitsuko's previous anger faded like a memory as she felt more and more amused by the AI. "Okay, make sure you stay away from Okajima's phone..."

Ritsu shivered. "Uh...too late..."


	11. She'll disappoint you

"I really love this weather!" Rio sighed contently as she stretched. "Now it's actually stopped raining."

The sun bathed them with its warmth as they walked down the street.

Mitsuko smiled faintly as she watched her. "Yeah, I definitely don't miss winter." She adjusted her school back, hesitating. "I was wondering if you wanted to see a movie this Saturday?"

Rio's eyes widened slightly, stopping. "Wait, you actually want to go see a movie with me?"

Mitsuko flushed. "Well, yeah, what's weird about that?"

The fake-blonde raised an eyebrow. "Last time I tried to invite you to a movie you looked like I'd asked you to strip."

Mitsuko nearly choked, going bright red. "No, I didn't!!"

Rio smirked. "I have a pretty good memory." She started to walk down the street. "Besides, what do you even want to go see?"

"Well..." Mitsuko tried to compose herself. "I was thinking maybe...Paradise Kiss?"

"A sappy romance movie?" Rio's brow furrowed. "Since when have you been into those?"

"Ritsu's been introducing me to a few," Mitsuko replied dismissively.

Rio looked puzzled for a moment but the expression quickly went. "Right." She eyed her curiously. "So what time is this movie anyway?"

Mitsuko's face broke out into a smile. "Wait, you actually want to go?"

"Well, I am curious about just what kind of movies Ritsu got you hooked on," Rio remarked.

She blushed a little despite her best efforts. "Well, it's cheesy, but I think you'll enjoy it."

"Hm, right." Rio rolled her eyes but still smiled. "Well, I do wanna see how bad your taste is."

Mitsuko smiled cheekily. "Then I guess it's a date."

The confused look on Rio's face made her freeze. "Yeah."

_Shit._

_Fuck, why did I say that!?!_

Mitsuko's insides recoiled. "But I'm not holding your hand or paying for your ticket." She forced a smile. "So unless you plan on dying alone, you better get a boyfriend soon."

Rio snorted. "You sound like my grandma!"

Mitsuko forced a laugh that hurt her throat. "Hey, if you want to live with fifty cats, I won't judge."

The fake-blond rolled her eyes and walked ahead. "If one of us is becoming the crazy cat lady, it's you."

* * *

Going to the movies together sounded simple on paper. Really, being in a dark movie theatre with the main focus on a widescreen, it was great!

_Fuck._

Mitsuko's resisted the strong urge to bite her nails as she stared at the five different outfits on the bed.

_None of them are right!_

Her stomach twisted unpleasantly and there was a sickly taste in her mouth again.

_Just get a grip._

She let out a deep breath and tried to calm down. It was ridiculous. It was just a trip to the movies—it wasn't even an official date!

Mitsuko forced herself to pick an outfit, going for a casual dress with blue stripes, and then picked up a blue blazer.

She looked at herself in the mirror, fidgeting badly.

"I like the dress!" Ritsu said, appearing on her laptop screen.

Mitsuko shrugged, smoothing out some creases. "Yeah, thanks." She picked up some lipstick and fiddled with the tube. "Is make-up too much?"

Ritsu hummed, thinking it over. "...Maybe a light layer?" She winked. "There's nothing wrong with a little glow." She brought up a dozen pages of beauty magazines. "Koro-sensei's software gave me a whole heap of tips and tricks, especially when getting ready for a date."

"It's not really a date," Mitsuko said quickly, feeling sick. "We're just hanging out."

"Well the romance genre would beg to differ," Ritsu replied firmly.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, sighing. "Please, shut up." She then apprehensively applied the lipstick in the mirror, puckering her lips just enough it could have made Bitch-sensei proud.

Ritsu beamed when she saw. "That looks nice."

Mitsuko's looked in the mirror, staring at her reflection as the reddish pink lips stood out like an eye-sore.

"No, it's not," she replied coldly, feeling like a child playing dress up. "It's stupid." She blushed and quickly wiped it off. "This whole thing is stupid."

Ritsu frowned. "What are you talking about? I thought you wanted to get closer to Nakamura?"

Mitsuko stayed quiet, staring at her reflection with growing unease. "I know..." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Sorry, I'm just being..." She shook her head. "You're right. I need to do this." Mitsuko re-applied the lipstick and then quickly looked away from the mirror. "Right, what time is it."

"6:15pm," Ritsu replied promptly.

Mitsuko felt a rush of panic. "What?!" She looked at her in alarm. "The date's at 6:30pm—why didn't you tell me I was running late?"

Ritsu frowned. "...I'm not Siri."

Mitsuko let out a groan. "No, you're too much of a pain in the ass."

Ritsu looked guilty. "I'm sorry! I was busy browsing dating advice online! And make-up tutorials—to help you get ready!"

Mitsuko was barely listening and grabbed her bag. "I need to get a taxi!"

"Oh, I can order—" The laptop was closed. "HEY!" Ritsu yelled from her phone.

Mitsuko ignored her and slipped on some sandals as she rushed out of her bedroom. "Shit, shit, shit," she swore, searching on her phone for a taxi number. "Why?!"

"Can't you ask your mom to give you a lift?" Ritsu popped up as an icon in the corner of the screen.

"No, she's...busy, okay," Mitsuko replied impatiently as she hurried down the stairs. "I just need—"

"Is there a problem?"

The Principal was looking at her curiously from the bottom of the hallway.

Mitsuko stepped back. "No," she said quickly, eyeing him warily as she walked down the stairs. "I'm just going out."

He looked her over with an uncomfortable amount of scrutiny until his gaze rested on her face. "Out?"

"Yeah," she replied evenly, reaching the bottom. "What are you doing?" She grimaced. "I thought you worked Saturdays."

He looked slightly amused. "I am. I need to see an associate in the city."

"Sounds great," Mitsuko replied with contempt, stepping around him. "Anyway, I'll be ba—"

"I'll drop you off," he interrupted evenly. "You are late after all."

Mitsuko tensed. "No, I don't—"

"Excellent, come along." He blatantly ignored her and opened the door. "I was hoping to discuss the latest incident with that Itona boy."

Mitsuko glared at his back, but then her phone vibrated, diverting her attention.

Ritsu looked concerned. "You don't have to go with him," she said quietly.

Mitsuko frowned, hesitating. "I..."

"Mitsuko."

_If I don't go, I'll be late..._

She grimaced, looking away from the screen. "I'm coming..."

"Wait—" Ritsu tried to protest but Mitsuko quickly put the phone away.

* * *

Mitsuko made a point of trying to ignore him and glare out of the car window, while the Principal gave his own report on the incident with Itona and Koro-sensei.

"...I did mention to Karasuma that the government would be paying for the damages," he said with delight. "Genetically mutated or not, there's no need _not_ to use a perfectly available door."

She hummed non-committedly, rolling her eyes. "I'll make sure to remind him the next time he tries to break down a wall, shall I?"

"Make sure that you do," he replied lightly, crossing his legs as he looked out of the window. "How is the other transfer student settling in?"

She held her phone tighter on her lap. "She's fine."

"Hm. Well, that is good to hear, integrating new students can be a difficult task sometimes." He smiled pleasantly, looking at her curiously. "I must say, you are looking quite presentable this evening."

It took her a second to realize he was complimenting her.

Mitsuko grew more alert, frowning. "Oh...thanks."

"Might I ask what's the occasion?"

She gripped her phone tighter. "I'm just meeting a friend."

"Ah, I see." He took out his handkerchief from his pocket. "In that case, you might want to stop stealing your mother's make-up."

Before she could react, he casually reached over and wiped the lipstick from her lips. "Hmf!"

He lightly gripped her jaw to keep her head in place. "You really are too young to be wearing this."

"I can wear what I want!" She shoved his arm away, blushing with embarrassment.

The Principal raised an eyebrow at her petulant response, folding the pink stained cloth away. "This friend of yours, they must be quite the distraction if you're willing to waste your time going to a movie theatre."

Mitsuko narrowed her gaze at him, keeping her temper in check. "Since when did you have such an investment in my social life?" she said coldly. "If it's an attempt at parenting, then you're failing as usual."

He smirked slightly, looking amused by her. "It's important for a teacher to keep an eye on their students' development." He looked out of his window as they stopped at a traffic light.

"I can be friends with whoever I like," she said firmly.

The Principal hummed. "Of course, I've never been able to stop you." He smiled faintly. "But, that Nakamura girl will only disappoint you."

Mitsuko felt her blood run cold. "What are you—?"

"Of course, I assume she's going along with all of this because she's trying to make amends, but it won't be enough." He looked at her pointedly. "She'll disappoint you soon enough."

_Shut up._

"Rio's _my_ friend." She fixed him with a hard look, "and _nothing_ you say will change that."

"It was merely a piece of advice, my dear girl," he told her lightly, glancing out of the window again when the lights turned green. "One I'm sure you'll ignore it as you always have."

She bit down hard on her tongue, swallowing a bad taste. "I don't need your advice." She held her phone too tight, making her hands clammy.

"Ah yes, and, now because of that you're in E Class," he replied pleasantly, "and vomiting during tests."

He caught her arm mid-air when it lashed out to clobber him with her phone.

She channeled all her resentment into one glare, which he replied with cold disinterest.

He softened his grip and raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

She ground down on her teeth hard.

_Why give him the satisfaction?_

She wanted to bash her head against the window.

Mitsuko let her arm go slack and drop down to her lap, looking anywhere but in his direction. "...I hate you."

"Good," he said almost fondly, he picked up her hairpin that had fallen from her hair when she'd tried to attack. "Then you're learning."

She closed her eyes tight and swallowed her resentment as he clipped a loose strand of her hair back into place.

Then the car started to slow down and come to a stop.

"Ah, here we are," the Principal said pleasantly.

As soon as she saw the cinema in the window, Mitsuko grabbed her bag off the floor and opened the car door before he could say anything else.

"Mitsuko?" Ritsu's voice was muffled Mitsuko's hand.

Mitsuko slammed the car door shut and walked straight to the entrance.

" _Mitsuko_!" Ritsu's voice sounded frantic. "We need to talk about what—"

She turned off her phone and shoved it in her bag, trying not to shake.

_Why am I shaking?_

Mitsuko stopped in front of the entrance, staring at her hand.

_I'm fine._

She curled her hand into a fist.

_It's fine._

"There you are!" Rio's voice rang out clearly above the crowd outside.

Mitsuko looked up and saw Rio walking over with a large smile on her face.

_Don't ruin this._

Mitsuko's throat felt dry, forcing a smile. "Hi."

Rio's smile wavered when she got closer. "Hey." Her gaze shifted from her to something behind her shoulder. "Is that your dad's driver...?"

Mitsuko's skin crawled. "Yeah..." She grabbed Rio's wrist tightly, making the fake-blonde frown. "Come on, we're going to miss the movie."

She kept her gaze on the ground as she dragged Rio inside the cinema.


	12. Talk to Someone!

"That movie was surprisingly good," Rio said, as they walked out of the viewing and into the main lobby.

"Yeah, it was great." Mitsuko smiled widely, trying not to fidget.

Rio eyed her briefly before she smiled. "I was expecting the worst, so congrats, your movie tastes are less cheesy than Koro-sensei's dramatic metaphors."

Mitsuko's thoughts shifted to what he'd told her last. "Yeah..." She nodded, smiling still. "He doesn't half go on." She looked through the glass entrance doors apprehensively.

"Are you okay?" Rio's smile faded.

Mitsuko gave a short laugh. "Oh, yeah, sorry!" She rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm spacing out again, my bad." She smiled. "I had a great time."

Rio stared at her for a moment, she didn't smile. "You're doing it again."

Her smile stiffened along with the rest of her. "Doing what?"

"You know I'm not an idiot."

Mitsuko swallowed, feeling the smile completely drop from her face. The lobby was starting to empty as people either left or went to see their films.

Rio fixed her with a hard look. "You're acting like you don't want to be here."

She felt a rise of panic seep up her throat. "No, I do," she replied quickly, moving closer. "I loved the movies a-and I loved...that you wanted to spend time with me again."

"Then why are you pulling a total 180?" Rio brow furrowed. "Seriously, just tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong," Mitsuko instead more forcefully than intended. "Okay, can we just not ruin this—"

Rio's frowned deepened, more confused, as she took a step back. "What are you—?"

_I'm losing her again._

"—Listen, j-just listen, okay." Mitsuko grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. " _Please_."

Rio stopped, staring at her warily for a moment. "...Okay."

Mitsuko swallowed, letting her hand go. "It's not you," she said quietly. "My father is just..." A brief bitter smile formed. "Being his usual asshole of a self."

"Oh..." Rio's gaze became understanding. "Okay, I get it." She smiled faintly. "He's being an ass about us hanging out again?"

Mitsuko sighed, crossing her arms as she shrugged. "Yeah." She smiled tightly. "But it's fine, I've gotten used to it."

Rio grimaced and then sighed. "Do you want to come back to mine?" She shrugged. "My mom won't mind..." She rolled her eyes. "She misses you."

Mitsuko laughed weakly, as her face broke out into a smile. "Your mom's sweet..."

"Yeah." Rio's smirk wavered, looking away. "You know, you can tell me if your parents are giving you crap. I mean, nearly everyone in our class has some kind of problem with their folks."

Mitsuko forced a laugh. "It's not that bad, seriously, I'm tougher than I look."

Rio frowned still. "Right..."

* * *

"Why did you turn me off!" Ritsu's angry face appeared on Mitsuko's desktop the next morning.

Mitsuko sighed, rolling her eyes. "Will you calm down already, I have homework to do." She tried to type but Ritsu kept blocking her screen. "Stop hacking my computer!"

Ritsu scowled. "We need to talk about what happened yesterday!"

Mitsuko grimaced, crossing arms as she leaned back. "Why? The Principal was just being an asshole as usual."

Ritsu cringed. "How often does he talked to you like that?"

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The things he said were not categorized as healthy parenting!" Ritsu complained, looking worried. "And what did he mean when he said you were vomiting before tests?"

Mitsuko shifted, looking away. "I...I have bad nerves so I vomited on Mr Kensaku during a Mid-term test." She shrugged, digging her nails into her lap. "The Principal loves bringing up stuff like that." She grimaced. "As I said, he's an asshole."

"But, that's not normal!" Ritsu's voice bordered on desperate. "He shouldn't treat you like that. He's your father."

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. "The Principal is anything but normal," she replied dismissively. "It's fine. I can handle it."

"Mitsuko—"

"Ritsu, just chill already." Mitsuko sighed, shrugging. "So my dad is a jerk to me, who cares? In a few more years I'll finally leave home and be done with him."

Ritsu stared at her with wide hurt eyes. "Mitsuko...this..." She shook her head in distress. "You shouldn't have to put up with this! He shouldn't be treating you like that, to begin with."

Mitsuko started to grow impatient. "Well, I can't exactly make him stop, Ritsu? What do you expect me to do? He's my father."

"Koro-sensei could—"

"The Principal is his boss." She curled her hands into fists. "And this doesn't concern anyone outside of my family, so just drop it."

"I can't just—"

"Friends respect each other's privacy," Mitsuko said coldly, narrowing her gaze.

"Real friends also watch out for each other!" Ritsu argued back. "And they don't ignore the other one when they're just trying to help!"

Mitsuko felt a lump in her throat, looking away. "...I know you're just trying to help, Ritsu," she said evenly.

"Then let me," Ritsu pleaded, looking up at her. "I think if Mr Karasuma talked with the Principal..."

Mitsuko felt a growing dread in her stomach. "One talk isn't going to magically change a person, Ritsu."

Ritsu gaze was pleading. "You have to talk to someone."

Mitsuko felt her stomach give another twist, looking over at her phone for a long moment. "...I'll only do that if you promise me you'll stop nagging."

Ritsu scowled. "I don't nag!"

The other girl rolled her eyes. "Just promise me you won't interfere."

The AI conflicted. "Mitsuko..."

"Friends respect each other's privacy, remember?" Mitsuko argued, giving her a look.

Ritsu's brow furrowed and her jaw twitched agitatedly. "...Fine."

Mitsuko smiled. "Thank you."

Ritsu's scowl didn't let up. "You better talk to someone..."

* * *

Mitsuko aimed at the tree that over overlooked the river; it had a yellow Koro-sensei face painted onto the tree trunk. When she fired it was an inch off target. "Damn..."

Sugaya shot next, hitting the painted on the target. "Nice!"

She scowled. "Will you stop showing off!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who wanted to practice shooting." He shrugged. "I'm not even that good..."

"You're still better than me!!" she snapped, huffing petulantly.

"How is that my fault?"

Mitsuko sighed, aiming the gun at the tree again.

Sugaya frowned, scrutinizing her hands. "You might want to loosen up." He pointed at her hands. "You're holding the gun too tight and your hands are shaking a little."

Her eyes widened at the accurate observation. "Oh..." She stared at her hands and loosened her hold slightly and drew her shoulders back. "Okay..." She focused on the target and sucked in a deep breath before releasing.

The pellet hit above the eye.

"See. Better." Sugaya nudged her shoulder.

Mitsuko stared at the tree in surprise, lowering her gun. "It wasn't far off..." A smile spread across her face. "But I can do better." She aimed the gun again, relaxing her shoulders as she fired. "If I can get this perfect I'll actually make some headway with this assassination thing!"

Sugaya stretched, sitting on a tree stump. "Do you actually have a plan?"

Mitsuko flushed. "Well, no..." She shrugged. "I've been busy with Rio..."

"How'd the date go?"

"It wasn't a date," she replied instinctively, as her gaze shifted to the river as she lowered the gun to her side. "And it was okay, I guess..."

"You guess?" Sugaya frowned.

She shrugged, sitting down on the grass. "...How did it feel when you went on your first date?"

Sugaya looked uncomfortable, smiling awkwardly. "Uh...I'll let you know when it happens."

"Oh..." Mitsuko smiled sheepishly. "Sorry!" her smile grew crooked. "Have you ever kissed a girl?"

"Yes!" Sugaya blushed.

She grinned wickedly. "Anyone, I know?"

"It was in third grade." He rolled his eyes. "I drew her a picture and she liked it so she kissed me..."

"Aww!!" Mitsuko laughed, making him scowl. "So adorable!"

"Shut up!" He tried to glare at her but it looked more like a scowl. "So I take it you've at least kissed a guy?"

"A few times." She shrugged.

"A few?" Sugaya raised an eyebrow.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "It was the same guy."

"Like a boyfriend?"

"Pfft, my brother would have scared them off." She scoffed, laying down on the grass to face the sky. "It was one of my brother's friends, Ren."

"Sakikabara? Seriously?!"

She shrugged, smiling faintly at the memory. "The first time was because I was upset about losing a race, so he kissed me to cheer me up." Her smile grew slanted. "I think it made Rio jealous at some point..."

"...How long are you going to wait before you tell her?" Sugaya asked cautiously.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuko frowned, sitting up.

His brow furrowed, looking uncertain. "That you like her."

There was a long stretch of quiet.

Mitsuko swallowed, bringing her knees closer to her. "I will..."

_She'll disappoint you._

She bristled, looking down. "As soon as I'm sure."

"Okay..." Sugaya said slowly.

Mitsuko grimaced. "I'll know when the right time will be, I just...I just have to be sure."

He sighed in exasperation. "Well, I think you should just tell her," he replied, standing up to stretch.

She frowned, chewing on her tongue hesitantly. "...The Principal doesn't like her."

Sugaya looked confused. "The Principal doesn't seem to like anyone much..."

Mitsuko smiled despite herself. "Yeah, well he's never liked Rio, even when we were kids." She rested her chin on her knees. "I don't know why."

"Well that's gonna make the next family Christmas awkward," Sugaya commented.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Like they weren't already."

Sugaya frowned. "But seriously, what are you going to do if you do go out?" he asked. "My dad had to spend two months just working up the nerve to meet my mom's parents."

She frowned. "Two months?"

He shrugged. "It was the 80's—Anyway, question is, have you thought about it?"

Mitsuko grimaced. "...I've tried not too..."

"Dude..."

"It's hard okay!" she said defensively. "I don't even know how I'm going to tell them I'm Bi, let alone that I actually want to date a girl..."

Sugaya sighed, running a hand through his hair. "They're gonna find out..."

Mitsuko winced, curling her arms around her legs tight. "I'll cross that bridge when it comes."

"Mitsuko—"

"I'll cross it when it comes!" she repeated, shooting him a hard look.

Sugaya looked annoyed, shaking his head. "It'll make things worse."

"Tell me something I don't know," she muttered, staring at the grass beneath her feet.

He sighed and took out his phone to check something. "I need to head off soon, you wanna practice a few more rounds?"

Mitsuko nodded, eyeing the phone warily as she stood up. "Sure." She kept her gaze on the phone a little longer before she sighed. "Has Ritsu spoken to you lately?"

Sugaya slipped his phone back in his jean's pocket and shrugged. "Not really, why?"

She chewed her tongue anxiously. "She's just been overreacting about my dad."

He frowned. "What do you mean overreacting?"

Mitsuko shrugged. "My dad's an asshole. Ritsu doesn't like that," she answered, aiming for the Koro-sensei target on the tree and fired, hitting more accurately this time. "She worries too much."

Sugaya took the next shot after her, frowning still. "Your dad doesn't exactly give off reassuring vibes." He looked at her warily. "What triggered the sudden overprotective mode from her?"

She swallowed a lump, keeping her expression passive as she took another shot, but it was off by an inch again. "She overheard a conversation between us when we were in the car." Mitsuko grimaced. "My dad was being his usual self..." She sighed. "And overreacted."

Sugaya paused, looking skeptical. "And you're positive she's just overreacting?"

Mitsuko groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose briefly. "The Principal's been an asshole nearly my entire life, I can take whatever he throws my way," she said firmly, gripping her gun too tight as she aimed for the tree. "So I don't appreciate it when all my friends start acting like I'm a stupid snowflake." She fired at the target but the accuracy was off. "I can handle it!"

She emptied the final rounds of BB's into the trunk, but they hit the yellow target chaotically.

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and glared at the Koro-sensei target whose painted grin seemed to mock her.

Sugaya was sweating. "Okay, how about we finish this conversation when you're not holding the BB gun?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and then shot the ground near his foot.

Sugaya nearly jumped out of his skin. "What the hell?!"

Her anger melted into amusement, lowering the gun to her side as she watched him. "Looks like my aim needs some work still."

"You're such a bitch!"

Mitsuko smirked, leaning against a tree. "Looks like Bitch-sensei's lessons are paying off then."

He threw a handful of Anti-sensei pellets at her from off the ground, making her laugh. 


	13. You have to rely on yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't mind me, just transferring some chapters over to get the story up to date.

Left

Right

Up

Left

Her fists followed a rhythm.

Mitsuko smiled as she tried to land a hit on Mr Karasuma.

The agent dodged and parried each of their attacks with ease.

Isogai and Maehara attacked him both at once, trying to keep up with him as he moved.

Mitsuko snuck in when she saw a gap and tried to strike his ribs with the anti-sensei knife; he grabbed her hand before the hit and pushed it away. Her smile grew.

_Holy shit this was fun._

She stepped back as Kataoka and Okano dived in.

Mitsuko took a second to glance to the side and saw Karma looking ready to pounce.

For once she couldn't really blame him for being eager for a fight, trying to attack Mr Karasuma was the most fun she'd had in a while, and it was less intense than the martial art training she'd endured as a kid.

Karma attacked as soon as she saw an opening, striking with two knives.

Mitsuko tried to approach from the back while Karma had him occupied at the front.

Mr Karasuma parried on his feet, rotating around to block any blind spots.

Her smile grew crooked and she lurched forward to strike under his chin—and collided straight into Karma, sending them both the ground.

Damn it.

Karma winced as she landed on his stomach. "Geeze! Warn a guy next time."

"Hey, you should have seen me going in for an attack!" Mitsuko snapped.

"You both should have been more aware of your surroundings," Mr Karasuma lectured, causing them to look up—she could have sworn there was a tiny smirk on his face—as he held both his hands out to help them up. "When attacking in a group, you need to be away of your target's actions as well as your teammates."

Karma and Mitsuko grabbed his hands as he helped them back onto their feet.

"I was! But Karma's attacks were too sporadic to predict," she said defensively, shooting the red-head a glare.

Karma stretched, deliberately yawning. "Hey, I wasn't the one holding back."

"It's called strategy," she snapped.

Mr Karasuma sighed, crossing his arms. "The point still stands that you both need to learn to work together as a team," he told them. "Go practice together."

Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms while Karma's brow furrowed, but Mr Karasuma had already turned away to monitor the rest of the group.

"Come on then." Karma sighed, stretching his hands behind his head. "I'll gone easy on you."

"Such a gentleman." She rolled her eyes and followed him further back on the field.

Without warning he tried to strike her with the knife, she shifted to the side and parried his hand.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're such an ass."

She tried to kick him in the face, he bent down and tried to stab her stomach but she swerved out of the way.

He tried to strike her with his second knife, she grabbed his wrist and twisted it just enough for him to loosen his grip. "We're meant to be fighting with one knife."

He wrenched his arm free, causing the knife to drop. "Pfft, you're no fun."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and lashed out with her knife.

Dodge

Right

Right

Left

It was like a well synchronized dance.

"So, Nakamura said you guys went to the movies?" Karma said lightly as their knives locked together.

Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. "Yeah, we did."

He put more pressure on, trying to break her grip as she re-adjusted her stance. "And a romance movie as well." His smirk grew. "You're pulling out all the stops, hey?"

Mitsuko scowled and pushed him back. "Are you really asking for a punch in the face."

"Well, it could be fun." He laughed and struck again, catching her off guard by his speed. "Listen, I've got nothing against it as long as your intentions are pure."

Mitsuko's stomach flipped, blocking his attack with her arm. "What the hell are you talking about?" she hissed.

"Look." Karma sighed, still placing pressure on her arm with his knife. "Nakamura hasn't got everything as figured out as you may think." His smirk faded into something more serious; her eyes widened at the expression. "So don't pressure her into something she's may not be ready for."

Mitsuko felt a spark of anger. "Okay, first off." She pushed him back with her foot, breaking the standoff. "She was my friend before yours, so I think I know what she wants better than you."

She lashed out with her knife, but Karma grabbed her arm and swerved her around, making her stumble and nearly trip.

"Well, if you're so sure why haven't you asked her?" Karma replied, giving her a pointed look.

Mitsuko tensed, gripping her knife too tight.

She spared having to answer when they heard a yell from forth across the training field when Mr Karasuma decided to flip Nagisa onto the ground.

_What the hell?!_

Both Mitsuko and Karma exchanged a surprised look before rushing over to see what happened.

"Oh, I-I'm fine," Nagisa said smiling.

"Dummy! You have to keep an eye on him!" Sugino said and Nagisa looked across with a sheepish smile.

"What happened?" Mitsuko asked Sugaya.

"Mr K flipped Nagisa when he tried to sneak up on him," he replied.

She frowned. "Seriously?" Her gaze shifted to Nagisa who was dusting himself off. "I'm surprised he even got that close."

"Yeah..." Karma had a strange look on his face.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, looking over towards Mr Karasuma who was walking off as the bell went.

"Well, looks like it's lunch!" Rio stretched, walking over.

Mitsuko couldn't help but frown slightly when Karma's words bounced around in her head.

_Seriously, why can't people just mind their own business?_

"Sensei!" Kurahashi approached him. "Come out for snacks with us after class!" She invited.

The teacher waved a dismissive hand. "I appreciate the invite, but I still have work to do."

"Figures," Sugaya said, sighing.

"No chinks in his private life either," Mimura mumbled.

"It's more like there's a wall between him and us," Okano commented.

"I mean, is anyone surprised?" Mitsuko commented, shrugging. "I'm pretty sure he didn't sign up for babysitting when he joined the special forces..."

"Hey, rich kids always need body guards," Kimura remarked.

"He takes good care of us and all, but is that only because he 'has' to?" Kurahashi said sadly.

Mitsuko grimaced, but then frowned when she saw another man suddenly appear at the top of the steps carrying a dozen bags. "Guys, strange man suddenly here with a delivery!"

The others looked over at the steps.

"Who's that?" Sugino questioned.

"Is it a new teacher?" Nagisa frowned.

The burly man had several paper bags with. "Hey!" He said to the class. "I'm Akira Takaoka and I'll be assisting Karasuma as of today." He announced cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, E-Class!" He passed them a bright smile.

"Assisting?" Mitsuko repeated, stepping forward along with the others. "Why would Mr Karasuma need assistance, this campus is already crowded enough."

"Yeah, Koro-sensei already takes up half the room," Karma remarked.

"WHAT IS THAT MEANT TO MEAN!!" Koro-sensei yelled from wherever he was hiding.

Takaoka laughed and started to lay down a blue blanket. "Hey, how about we talk it over some snacks, I'm starved already.

"Snacks?" Rio questioned.

"You brought snacks!?" Kurahashi's eyes shone with delight. "What kind!"

Takaoka chuckled, unpacking the colored bags. "All kinds!"

Mitsuko's eyes widened when she saw him take out lots of expensive-looking cakes.

"Cake!" Okajima exclaimed.

"And eclair from Le Hermes," Kataoka said surprised.

"Are you sure? They look pricey." Isogai jittered about.

"Go on, eat up! I emptied up my wallet for this, so don't hold back!" Takaoka said proudly.

"You sure know your brand name sweets," Hinata commented.

"Honestly, when it comes to me and sugar..." Takaoka went on dramatically. "It's love!" He stuck his tongue out.

Mitsuko smiled slightly in amusement. She looked over at Karma who was maintaining a cautious distance from the man and the others. Her brow furrowed.

"Cake..."Koro-sensei drooled. Nakamura looked at him, grossed out.

"Oh, you must be Koro-sensei. Eat, Eat!" Takaoka said generously. Koro-sensei's drooling only increased. "We'll still end up killing you." Takaoka winked and laughed.

"For colleagues, you and Karasuma-sensei are like day and night." Said Kimura.

"You're like a neighbourhood dad!" Hara said.

"Dad! I like that!" He swung his arms around Nakamura and Mimura who smiled uncomfortably. "We're in the same classroom, so that makes us a family, right?"

Mitsuko frowned, watching as her classmates eagerly ate all the cakes. "Why did you spend so much money?" she asked him. "You don't even know us."

Takaoka smiled brightly. "Well, there's nothing wrong with a good impression and I've already heard so much about you kids!" He picked up a Castella cake on a plate and stood up, walking over to her. "Here you go."

She stared at the cake warily, frowning still. "No thanks, I don't really eat sweets that much." She shrugged, crossing her arms.

_It wasn't a total lie._

"Aw, come on, who doesn't like cake?" He laughed again, pushing the plate near her face, making her feel uncomfortable. "I promise it's good."

Mitsuko shook her head, smiling politely. "Thank you, but no."

For a brief second his smile tightened and looked stiff. "Aw! Well, I guess that just means more cake for dear old dad." He ruffled her hair roughly, making her scowl. "Maybe you'll change your mind after tomorrow, eh? Nothing like a good workout to get you hungry again."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, looking up at him while his hand rested on her head.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Karma scowl.

* * *

The Principal was a complete bastard and a monster of a father, but he had taught her many valuable lessons, with the most important being: _Never trust a smile._

"Now along with your new training regimen comes a new schedule!" Takaoka said producing a stack of papers.

"No way!"

"Ten periods?!"

Today, she was reminded of that lesson.

Mitsuko held her knees too tight, narrowing her gaze at the man.

"But of course, Following this curriculum will boost your abilities by leaps and bounds. Let's get to work!" Takaoka clapped his hands.

"Is this guy for real?" Rio whispered next to her.

"Hey, wait a minute, this is impossible!" Maehara said angrily. "With so little time for learning, our grades will plummet!" He complained flailing the paper in his hand. Takaoka rubbed the back of his head. "And no free time either? We can't do this!" He declared.

Still smiling, the instructor flung his knee into the boy's torso. Saliva spurted out before Maehara fell.

Mitsuko's eyes widened in horror, as he continued to smile and talk like a maniac.

"What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Sugaya hissed.

"If you want to sit out, sit out." He spat."I'll use my authority to bring in new students to replace you."

Mitsuko looked up in alarm at that. "He can't do that..." she whispered, feeling sick.

_Would the Principal even care?_

She felt sicker. Having E Class be too busy to study would mean they'd continue to fail, just like he wanted.

_Damn it!_

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, tensing when she saw the burly man start to approach.

He looked at them. "But I don't want to do that. After all, you're my precious family. A father doesn't want to lose a single one of his children." He walked around the lanes. "Let's save the world together, kids—as a family!" He threw his arms around Kanzaki and Mimura who gasped.

"Dude, what do we do?" Kimura whispered hastily. "We have to do something!?"

"Like what? The guy's built like a wall!" Sugaya hissed.

"Shit." Rio cringed. "Where's Karma when you need him?"

"Screw that, where's Koro-sensei?!" Mitsuko whispered.

"W-well... I... um..." Kanzaki was suddenly standing up. The others looked over in dread. "I don't want to. I prefer Karasuma-sensei's class." She smiled at him politely.

The next thing any of them knew Takaoka had slapped her hard enough to send her flying.

"Bastard," Rio hissed, jumping to her feet.

"No!" Mitsuko grabbed her arm and yanked her back.

"Mitsuko, get off!" Rio snapped.

Mitsuko glared at her. "So what? You can get the crap beaten out of you as well?!" she whispered fiercely. " _Think_ for a second, you can't just rush in an attack him!"

"Takaoka, stop!" Finally Mr Karasuma had arrived.

Mitsuko loosened her grip as she stood up, but held onto Rio's hand still as the two watched Karasuma kneel next to Kanzaki.

"Are you alright?" He asked her. "Does your neck hurt?"

"I'm okay," Kanzaki said softly.

"And you, Maehara?"

The boy was holding his stomach, still, pinching one eye shut. "Y-Yeah, fine."

Mitsuko gripped Rio's hand tighter, but then quickly let go when she realized, blushing.

Rio frowned, looking over her shoulder.

"No."

Then Koro-sensei finally decided to make his appearance.

A red, blazing tentacle took a firm hold of Takaoka's shoulder. Koro-sensei's tentacles flailed everywhere. His body was red, his eyes were glinting, his face had darkened. "They're not your family. They're my students."

Mitsuko's gaped.

_Oh, shit, he's pissed._

"Just what have you been up to while my back was turned?" He questioned.

Her shock turned to indignation. "What the hell were you doing?"

Takaoka didn't seem frightened by the super-teacher's anger, if anything, it encouraged him.

The burly man brushed aside the tentacle and faced the red blob. "Got a problem, monster?" He said with a dark and crazed expression. "Phys Ed is my class to run and these fall well within the bounds of education. I don't have much time to train up assassins to kill you- of course, I need to be rough on them." His gaze darkened further.

Mitsuko stared in horror at the man stared down the Octopus arrogantly.

_Koro-sensei isn't seriously going to let him treat us like this...right?_

"And so what if I am?" He said nastily. "Just because your views of education differ is that any reason to attack a man who never did you any harm."

Koro-sensei looked ready to blow but...the fuse never went off.

Mitsuko felt her stomach twist when she saw the super-teacher slunk back and lower his head in resignation.

Takaoka smiled brightly. "Well, alrighty then!" He turned to the students, smiling too wide. "Let's get to work kids! Daddy wants at least three hundred squats from each of you."

Mitsuko stepped back, grimacing. "Shit..."

"What are we gonna do?!" Sugaya hissed.

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, looking over at her teachers who were sitting on the sidelines. She curled her hands into fists and glared at them.

"Useless..." she whispered, scowling.

_If Mr Karasuma and Koro-sensei can't do anything then the only other person is..._

She cringed, closing her eyes in dread.

"Let's get moving—I want lines of five!!" Takaoka's voice took on an edge, smiling too widely. "We need to make up for lost time."

Her classmates exchanged hesitant looks before they started to get into formation.

Mitsuko swallowed a bad taste, and looked over at the Old Campus building and took a step forward.

If one of them could distract him—

A fat hand clamped down on her wrist, yanking her back. "Come on now honey, I told everyone to start getting in line." Takaoka chuckled, digging her nails into her wrist when she looked up.

_Fuck you._

Mitsuko swallowed down bile of hatred and smiled feebly. "I-I'm sorry, sir, I just...need to take my medication before we begin training."

"Medication?" Takaoka looked confused.

She smiled meekly. "I have a projectile vomiting problem, if I don't take at least two pills a day, I'll choke on my own vomit."

She started to lose circulation in her arm as he held it tighter. " _Projectile vomiting_?" His smile sharpened. "Is that so?"

Mitsuko frowned, looking up at him with wide eyes. "You can ask any of the teachers." She grimaced. "Or my father at the main campus?"

Something ticked across his face, and his smile was so wide it looked like he wanted to bite her throat open.

"Yeah, it stinks pretty bad when she gets going," Rio said from behind him, crossing her arms. "Last time it happened was at midterms."

Takaoka's smile wavered, as his brow furrowed. "Hmf." He looked down at Mitsuko for a moment, crushing her wrist in his grip.

Her lip wobbled as she bit down hard on her tongue to stop herself from wincing.

Then Takaoka chuckled, smiling brightly. "Well, you should have said so! A family should always take care of each other!" He smiled down at her. "You better swallow those pills quickly if you want to catch up with others."

Mitsuko smiled. "Yes, sir."

He squeezed her hand warningly and then finally let go, allowing the blood to circulate again.

She kept her smile in place as she turned around and hurried to the Old Campus building, ignoring Koro-sensei and Mr Karasuma as she went passed.

When she was safe inside she ran to the classroom where she'd left her bag and phone. "Come on," she whispered, searching through her bag frantically. "Shit."

She grabbed her phone when she found it and looked up the Principal's number under, 'Sperm donor'.

The phone started to ring.

"Please..." She closed her eyes and cringed when no one was answering. "Please, just pick-up..."

Mitsuko looked at her wrist and grimaced when she saw pink blotches on her wrist where the swelling had started.

The phone stopped ringing. _"Phones are not permitted during lesson time."_

She'd never thought she'd actually be relieved to hear his voice.

"Have you met the new teacher the government assigned?" she snapped, clutching her phone too tight.

There was some background noise she could hear when he paused; was he outside? _"We met briefly,"_ he replied evenly.

_Briefly?_

She wanted to scream at him.

"Well your vetting process is shit," she snapped, feeling a burst of rage at his dismissiveness.

"Manners," his voice took on an edge.

She swallowed a lump, already knowing she'd overstepped her luck. "Just come see—"

"I'm very busy at the moment, unfortunately," he interjected lightly. "Now, if that's everything—"

"No!" she snapped, shaking slightly as she felt she really would projectile vomit on the floor. "Dad, _please_ , just listen to me." There was silence from the other end of the line. "He's beaten up two students already—come see for yourself, please."

There was a long silence from the other end of the line as she waited for a response.

The line went dead.

Mitsuko's hand shook violently as she stared at the blank screen, feeling a fresh wave of resentment.

* * *

If you had told her yesterday that Nagisa Shiota, a boy shorter than most first years, was going to save them from a man who was three or four times his weight and size...well, she would have first questions the odd specifications, and then laughed.

Mitsuko gawked as she saw Nagisa single-handedly take down that man without hesitating after Mr Karasuma had picked him to challenge Takaoka.

Takaoka writhed as Nagisa placed the knife on the skin of his neck. Smiling, content with his prey. "Gotcha."

Rio let out a low whistle. "Damn..."

Mitsuko blinked rapidly, trying to recover. "Nagisa..."

_Was that really Nagisa right there?_

Blanching suddenly, "Oops! Was I not supposed to use the back of the knife?" Nagisa asked aloud.

Mitsuko's awe evaporated. 

_It's still Nagisa..._

The other students got knocked out of their shock and started to smile.

"That was awesome!" Kimura exclaimed as he and the others gathered around Nagisa while Takaoka trembled on the ground.

"You did it Nagisa!"

"Thank goodness!"

"That's a big deal!"

Mitsuko started to smile and joined them. "That was unreal!" she exclaimed, eyeing the blue-haired boy with interest. "How did you do that?"

Nagisa smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I just did what Mr Karasuma told me."

"You sure know your way around a knife."

"I just followed instructions. Takaoka-sensei is tough." Nagisa replied smiling.

Maehara walked close, catching everyone's attention. "Ow!" Nagisa yelped rubbing his cheek when he felt the impact of the slap. "What was that for!" He complained.

"Yeah, we got enough slaps from Takaoka," Mitsuko remarked dryly.

Rio nudged her, smiling crookedly.

Maehara looked apologetic. "Sorry, kinda didn't believe that was you," he said. Then, grinning, he swung an arm around Nagisa's neck. "But thanks! That assassination was a total rush!"

"Stabbing that knife with a smile and that 'gotcha'?" Rio said, looking impressed.

"It was impressive," Mitsuko praised, raising an eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell us you could do that?"

Nagisa frowned faintly. "Do what?"

"Become an ultimate, badass, duh!" Okajima exclaimed.

"Just wait until Karma hears about this." Rio grinned.

"You brats." Takaoka had gathered himself together again."Turning on your father figure and rejoining in some fluke victory?!" He raged, eyes practically white from anger. "Again! I'll have you in two! Body and soul!"

Mitsuko stepped in front of Rio, making her frown. "Will you give it up already!?"

Nagisa remained calm, staring down the demonic teacher. "If we fought again I'd lose for sure," he said. "But what's plain to see is that Koro-sensei is our teacher and Karasuma-sensei is our training instructor and that's final. You and your forced father figure role doesn't come across half as warm as Karasuma-sensei's professionalism."

"Oh, wow, burn." Rio's eyes widened.

"We're grateful you really tried to make us stronger." Nagisa went on. "But I'm sorry." He bowed. "Please leave."

Mitsuko glared at the man along with her classmates. "That's Nagisa's polite way of saying, don't let the door hit you on the way out, _sir_."

Takaoka looked ready to beat every single one of them to death.

"I'm not gonna stand here listening to this brat sproutin' off!" Takaoka barked, spit flying like a rabid dog as he raised his fist.

Mr Karasuma swooped in and delivered a hard hit to the face with his elbow, knocking the man back.

The tension lifted slightly from Mitsuko's shoulder, letting out a sigh. "Finally." She glanced over at Rio who was grinning, making her smile. "You okay?"

Rio raised an eyebrow, looking at Mitsuko's wrist. "I should be asking you that."

Mitsuko's covered her wrist with her other hand, frowning. "It's fine."

"I apologize for the trouble my colleague caused," Karasuma said to the students. "Don't worry about what comes next. I'll negotiate with my superiors to resume my teaching position."

Mitsuko and the others smiled. "Mr Karasuma!" They all said in appreciation.

"Karasuma!" Takaoka roared. All eyes fell on him. "You think I'll let you get one over me like that? I'll-" He was never able to finish his sentence.

"There is no need to negotiate."

Mitsuko tensed, looking over her shoulder when she heard the Principal approach them out of nowhere.

"Principal Asano!" Her classmates yelled.

"What?" Mitsuko stared at him in disbelief as he casually strolled over to Takaoka.

"I was curious as to how our new teacher was doing." He bent down to meet Takaoka's level. "And saw the whole thing."His eyes bore into Takaoka's. "Takaoka-sensei, your lesson was a joke." He said in his velvety voice."Yes, fear is a must in education."

"How long has your dad been here?" Sugaya whispered.

Mitsuko frowned. "I don't know..." She looked down. "He could have been here the whole time for all I know."

She remembered hearing birds when she called him, which was strange when you considered the Principal wasn't one for spontaneous strolls outside.

_So was he already on his way when I called him?_

"But a teacher who can only instill fear only through violence is a teacher of the lowest order indeed." The Principal stuffed the walking papers in the man's mouth ."You're walking papers." The Principal said before standing up while Takaoka choked on the paper.

"Whoa..." Rio raised an eyebrow.

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at the Principal when their gaze met briefly.

His gaze shifted downwards for a second to her hands, before they looked straight ahead as he walked andcleaned his hands with a napkin.

"The ministry of defense has no hiring rights here. I call the shots around here and don't you forget that." He disposed of the tissue paper on the fired instructor's bag.

"Takaoka's... fired?" Kimura mumbled not able to believe it.

"So, it's back to Karasuma-sensei?" Okajima questioned.

The silence lasted for only a second before all the students jumped and cheered in glee.

Mitsuko didn't join in, keeping her gaze narrowed at the ground.

"Hey?" Rio was smiling. "Guess the Principal actually helped us out for once."

Mitsuko quickly smiled. "Yeah, guess so..."

* * *

Mitsuko stared at her homework blankly, resting her chin in her palm while her other hand drummed along the pages of the textbook.

Her gaze shifted to the dark purple bruise on her wrist and lingered there for a while until she moved her arm under the desk

She glanced at her phone and sighed when she realized it was already midnight.

A second later Ritsu popped up on the screen. "Hi!"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Hey..."

Ritsu grinned. "I was just talking to Fuwa, she told me what happened today." Her smile faded. "I already checked on Kanzaki and Maehara, but are you okay as well? I heard he hurt you as well."

She shrugged, keeping her arm under the desk. "It was minor, he just grabbed me." She shrugged again. "I'm fine."

Ritsu hummed, tilting her head. "So what did you go off and really do? They said you told him you were taking med—"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now, Ritsu," Mitsuko interrupted, smiling tightly. "I still need to finish my homework so..."

Ritsu frowned. "Oh, okay, well that's fine..." She smiled still. "But if you want to talk, we can talk."

"I know."

_Because you won't stop reminding me..._

Mitsuko felt a rush of guilt the moment she thought it. "Anyway." She cleared her throat. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Ritsu."

Ritsu's smile twitched. "Right!" she said too brightly. "That's fine. Have a good night."

"You too," Mitsuko replied, smiling.

Ritsu disappeared from the screen.

Mitsuko sighed, closing her eyes as she rested her head on her notebook.

Then there was a short knock on the door before it opened a second later, making her bolt to her feet in surprise.

"What the hell!?" she yelled, staring at the door as it opened fully and the Principal just casually looked around the room with mild curiosity.

"Hm?" The Principal arched an eyebrow. "Is there a problem?"

"You just barging into my room is the problem," Mitsuko snapped, glancing at her phone briefly before grabbing it. "I'm still entitled to basic privacy."

"I did knock," he replied dismissively, closing the door behind him as he reached into his pocket. "I came to give you this."

Her brow knitted in confusion when she saw what looked like foundation make-up in his hand.

There was a pause, as she touched her wrist involuntarily.

"What's that for?" She asked like she didn't already know the answer, turning off her phone before she dropped it on her bed. 

He handed her the cover-up. "You'll need it to cover up that." He glanced at the bruise pointedly. "There's no need to worry your mother." His gaze shifted to her homework and then the small photo of her and Rio that sat behind her laptop. "Unless you plan on giving away state secrets." The Principal picked up the workbook and started to look through it. "Question 5 and 7 are wrong by the way—your interpretation fails to draw a suitable conclusion, and as usual you're not communicating the key themes of the poem."

Mitsuko crossed her arms. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to come see his teaching?"

The Principal glanced at her and then lowered the workbook. "I didn't consider it important to make you aware." He placed the workbook on the desk and smiled at her thinly. "I was quite surprised by your call though."

She dug her nails into her arms, narrowing her eyes. "You were the next highest point of authority since Koro-sensei and Mr Karasuma's hands were tied."

He stared at her intently for a moment, before he walked closer and lowered his gaze to her wrist. "I had heard rumors of his methods, so I did arrange to observe his teaching first hand, to be sure." He gently lifted her bruised wrist, making her tense. "Takaoka's methods were unrefined and unnecessarily barbaric."

She yanked her hand from his grip. "You never should have let it get that far."

His hand remained in the air from where he'd been holding his wrist, frowning as he looked down at her. "Let me give you some advice, Mitsuko," he said lightly. "The world is filled with Takaokas and in those moments the only person you can rely on is yourself." He studied her briefly. "The strong can hold their own, that's what separates them from the weak." He closed his hand into a fist and lowered his arm. "I was under the impression you were training to be an assassin." He smiled condescendingly. "Not a helpless girl who cries to her father for help."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, feeling her stomach fill with shame. "I wouldn't have needed it if you hadn't let him teach," she replied bitterly. "But, hey, why should I even be surprised?" Her glare was like ice. "You probably liked seeing me being put in place."

His gaze narrowed briefly. "You have far too much of your mother in you." He sighed disappointedly. "No wonder you're conjuring up these delusions." He tilted his head at her curiously. "And why would I wish to see you put in place when you're already in it?"

Mitsuko drew back without realizing, shaking slightly. "If the world isn't over by the year's end, I'll make sure the cover-up gets exposed somehow." She glared at him with all her anger, but still felt her eyes water despite her best efforts. "Then you'll be the one begging me for help."

"Bold threats." The Principal stared at her with a small smile on his face. "I admire your ambition, but words are only as strong as their actions," he said lightly. "You are one of my oldest students." She jerked her head away when he tried to grab her chin. " _Mitsuko."_ He held her jaw, forcing her to look up when she tried to turn her head. "And you have been given _every_ advantage in life." She glared at him as her eyes started to sting. "I want you to be _strong,_ " he told her firmly, narrowing his gaze. "Finals are nearly here." Her stomach plummeted. "Do not disappoint me, again."

Mitsuko felt hollow and sick, glaring at him, as he backed off and re-adjusted the cuffs of his shirt. Her temper grew, fuelled by shame like he was stoking the flames.

_I'm not going to fail._

At that moment she felt like she'd rather die than have to suffer through the humiliation again. 

He smiled faintly in amusement. "Make sure you make the corrections to questions 5 and 7," he reminded her, turning away. "I will be checking." Was the last thing he said before he left her room.

A second later she smashed the cover-up foundation against the wall.


	14. This is Normal

_Finals were nearly here._

Mitsuko held her pen tight as she wrote down in her book and worked through the questions.

_How the fuck were finals nearly here?!_

Her hand shook, swallowing a lump in her throat as her gaze darted across the textbook somewhat erratically.

"Mitsuko?"

A yellow tentacle rested on her workbook, making her pause and lookup. "Huh?"

A copy of Koro-sensei was in front of her while his other copies helped her classmates at their desks.

"Try working out question ten differently," he said gently, pointing to the question.

"It's not wrong," she replied defensively, hunching her shoulders as her gaze narrowed.

"Not it isn't," he agreed, his voice irritatingly patient like she was some scared animal. "But you're rushing too much."

Mitsuko felt a rise of embarrassment, lowering her gaze as she scowled. "Right..." She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Okay, so what'd I need to do?"

"Use short division instead," he told her, pointing to her multiplication and then started to explain a better workflow, but his voice just sounded like rambling.

Mitsuko was barely paying attention, fleeing a headache coming on, feeling too warm.

"Mitsuko?"

Pay attention!

She forced her head up, looking at him. "Yeah, okay, I get it."

He stared at her with those stupid beady eyes. "Are you sure?"

She let go of her pen and picked her pencil up. "Yes, it's fine. Now can you leave me alone and let me focus already?"

Koro-sensei remained silent. "...If you're sure."

"Yes, I am," she snapped impatiently, narrowing her gaze at him.

"...Of course." His copy disappeared a second later.

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, looking down

* * *

Of all the places Takaoka could have bruised her, it just had to be the wrist?

Mitsuko glared at the large purple blemish which had darkened in colour from where she was sitting in the staff room while her classmates were outside having lunch in the sun.

"What's got you all angsty?" Bitch-sensei sat back down with a bottle of water in hand.

Mitsuko directed her glare at her, as she pulled her blazer sleeve back down. "Maybe it's your suckish seduction techniques?"

Bitch-sensei scoffed. "Oh, please, I'm an assassin, not a miracle worker." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Did you go over the homework assignment I gave you?"

"Yes." Mitsuko replied curtly.

Bitch-sensei smile patronizingly. "Then show me."

Mitsuko swallowed her anxiety and stood up. "Okay." She cleared her throat and walked over. "Hey...Rio." She forced a smile.

"Hey," Bitch-sensei replied dully.

"Listen, there's something I need to tell you," Mitsuko said levelly.

"What about?" Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow.

Mitsuko forced her smile to stick. "I...I really...think you're amazing and fantastic and anyone would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend," she said, blushing as she looked down. "A lot actually...um." She kept her gaze low. "Because you're just so fantastic—"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you there, sunshine," Bitch-sensei interrupted. "You need to look at her while you're talking and, second, don't drag it out—Remember I said to keep it simple?"

Mitsuko scowled, looking up. "Well, I can't just blurt it out!"

Bitch-sensei wagged her finger. "No excuses, kid. Start from the top." She waved her hand dismissively.

Mitsuko sighed, resisting the urge to glare at her again. "Okay..." She took a deep breath and tried to smile again. "Rio, I think you're amazing and I have feelings for you." She started to sweat, blushing. "B-but it's okay if you don't feel the same way because I totally understand and I won't be angry about—"

"Ugh, stop!" Bitch-sensei groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Okay...Listen, this is confession will either make or break whatever future you have together, do you understand? You need to make her feel comfortable. Speak from the heart and all that romance bullshit."

Mitsuko nodded. "I know that." She frowned. "Just let me try again, I'll stay calm this time."

Bitch-sensei sighed, glancing at the clock briefly. "Okay, fine, but I need a cigarette break soon." She stared at her thoughtfully. "Look, how about we try to this from a different angle."

"Okay, like what?" Mitsuko asked, folding her arms.

"Tell me why you like her?" Bitch-sensei asked, leaning back.

"Okay, okay..." Mitsuko nodded, taking a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I can do that." She grimaced, sighing. "So, for one thing, she's beautiful, but in a different way to you, like..." She rubbed her arms. "When she smiles she gets these dimples on her face." She smiled, shrugging. "It's like everything around lights up, like she's the sun and everything's warm."

Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."

Mitsuko sighed, leaning back. "I mean I've known her nearly my entire life and every time with her, everything's right and I'm happy." She smiled, shrugging. "And when she isn't there...I'm not." She shrugged again, rubbing her arm. "When we used to have sleepovers, we shared a bed and she'd hold me." Her smile grew fond, wrapping her arms around herself. "And her room smelt of pine because that was the air freshener her mom always put in there, and everything was just...perfect," she said, running her finger along her hand. "I wanted us to stay like that forever."

Bitch-sensei stayed silent, staring at her.

Mitsuko's smile faded when she didn't speak. "What?"

Bitch-sensei frowned and then shook it off. "Nothing! I just..." She coughed, rolling her eyes. " _Pines_ , really?!"

"What's wrong with pines?" Mitsuko replied defensively.

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes. "You're so cheesy, it's lame."

"Are you actually helping me or not?!"

Bitch-sensei huffed, shrugging. "It's a sappy enough story, just cut it down a little and keep it personal and it'll sell."

Mitsuko's eyes widened. "You really think so?"

Bitch-sensei shrugged, taking out a pack of cigarettes. "Yep. Now, go play, while teacher has a cigarette."

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "Smoking isn't allowed inside!!"

Bitch-sensei rolled his eyes and tried to light one anyway. "Meh, who cares?"

"Don't!!" Mitsuko lurched forward and tried to take it.

"Hey!" Bitch-sensei tried to push her away. "Gettoff!"

Mitsuko tried to wrestle the lighter from her while over the desk. "No one wants your second-hand smoke, selfish bitch!"

"Fuck you!!"

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Koro-sensei suddenly appeared in the room carrying a surfboard and a pineapple.

Both Mitsuko and Bitch-sensei froze mid-fight. "Uh..."

Bitch-sensei snapped out of it first and pushed Mitsuko away. "Do your job and teach this brat some manners."

Mitsuko glared at her. "How about you do your job and not give me second-hand cancer!!"

"Wait, are you smoking!!?" Koro-sensei finally caught on, dropping his surfboard and pineapple. 

Bitch-sensei glared at Mitsuko. "Great..."

Koro-sensei was by her side in a second and snatched the cigarette. "The smoking area is outside, Ms Irina. Honestly!" He swallowed the pack of cigarettes.

"Hey!" Bitch-sensei snapped, standing up. "Do you know how expensive those were?!"

"You cannot put a price on a student's health," Koro-sensei scolded, and then turned to Mitsuko. "I was actually coming to find you, Mitsuko."

Mitsuko eyed him warily. "Why?"

"I think I've come up with a new study technique!" Koro-sensei was excited, rubbing his tentacles together.

"Okay..." She frowned, growing on edge as she followed him out of the staff room. "What kind of study technique?"

Koro-sensei hummed. "Well, I have noticed a spike in your anxiety over these last few days."

Mitsuko stopped before they reached the classroom. "If this is another stupid therapy session from your fake degree then—"

"It's not that!" Koro-sensei said quickly. "I promise I won't force you to talk about things that upset you."

Her eyes narrowed, eyeing him warily. "Then what...?"

"You'll see," he replied, sliding the classroom door open.

Mitsuko hummed suspiciously but followed him nevertheless. Her brow furrowed when she saw different things arranged on his desk; knitting needles poked into a yarn of wool, a notepad and pencil, a Rubix cube, and a pack of cards.

"What's this?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, after some analysis, I think the best way to tackle your anxiety is to find a coping mechanism!" Koro-sensei replied brightly.

"Coping mechanism?" she repeated dryly. "I'm fifteen, not five."

Koro-sensei sighed. "It isn't like that." Wandering over to the desk. "It's used for a variety of reasons – which in this case is for keeping you calm."

Mitsuko frowned, walking over to the desk to examine the object. "I won't be able to do these things in a test..."

"No, but by choosing a specific activity to focus on it can help be a cornerstone of some kind in your mind," Koro-sensei informed her.

She stared at him curiously and then looked back at the desk. "...And you think it will work?"

Koro-sensei gave a strained laugh. "Well, hopefully..."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, picking up the notepad and pencil. "Fine." She started to draw from memory. "So I'm meant to master each of these hobbies?"

"Huh?" Koro-sensei sounded confused.

She sighed impatiently while she drew the river that ran through the woods. "Fine, I'll do it." Her gaze lifted to his. "It'll take three days."

"Mitsuko, this isn't a competition!" Koro-sensei admonished.

Mitsuko scoffed. "Life's a competition."

* * *

Ritsu looked slightly scared from the laptop screen. "Um...I think Koro-sensei wanted you to have fun..."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, finishing off her seventieth game of solitaire. "Pfft, he just likes to think he's qualified to teach."   
She shoved the cards to the side along with the five completed Rubix cubes and the stack of artwork she'd left piled up on her desk.

"Well...is it working?" Ritsu asked, smiling sheepishly. "Are you relaxed?"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Not really." She picked up the knitting needles and wool. "Anyway, so what's the technique with this?"

Ritsu brought up a quick tutorial online. "We should start with the basics first, with a cast on."

She nodded and looped the thread around the large needle. "Okay..." She started to cast on, watching the video.

Ritsu smiled and copied her on screen, fabricating her own set of needles and wool. "I liked learning this, it was fun." She started to knit alongside her. "I've made three different pairs of gloves!"

"Hm..." Mitsuko focussed on what she was doing, frowning when the stitching tangled. "Ugh!"

"Oh, it's fine, you can still incorporate it if you're just making a scarf!" Ritsu encouraged, "and it will help you learn."

"By having a badly made scarf?" Mitsuko questioned.

Ritsu grinned. "I think it adds more character!"

The corner of her lip curled upwards. "Of course you would." She focussed on looping and slipping the knot to the other needle. "I don't think my brother would appreciate a scarf in summer anyway."

Ritsu laughed. "Then just stockpile!"

Mitsuko smiled, getting into a rhythm. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

Ritsu grinned. "Maybe," she replied lightly. Mitsuko watched her as she cast off. "Or maybe your mom would like one, her birthday is coming up soon."

Mitsuko paused briefly, staring at the needles before she resumed. "Yeah, it is."

Ritsu hummed, looking at her curiously. "She looked a lot like you when she was younger...well, minus the hair and eyes."

"Yeah, I know." Mitsuko's response was clipped.

"Right..." Ritsu sighed deeply. "Listen—"

"Why are you so invested in my family life, Ritsu?" Mitsuko snapped, looking at her harshly. "I don't ask you about your...parents or masters—whatever they are."

Ritsu tensed, frowning. "Well...maybe I'd like it if you did, or if anyone asked..." Her frown deepened. "I know what it feels to be controlled and treated like...property." She grimaced, averting her gaze. "I'm just trying to be a good friend."

Mitsuko felt a rise of guilt, grimacing.

_Great, now I feel like a jerk._

She sighed, resuming her knitting with a scowl. "...Look, I'm sorry." She stared at the stitching, focusing on her hands. "My mom is just...difficult to talk about sometimes." Mitsuko cast off and began another thread. "She's..." She sighed again, trying to think of the best way to say it. "She's an idiot."

"Mitsuko..." Ritsu frowned, looking alarmed.

"It's true." Mitsuko shrugged uneasily, knitting still. "She's an idiot, she's...irresponsible." Her hands shook slightly, making her pause. "One summer when we were eight she just stayed in bed for days, she wouldn't get up."

"Was she sick?" Ritsu asked gently.

"No," Mitsuko replied but then hesitated. "Well, not physically I guess..." She shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, but she wouldn't get up or cook, and dad barely even noticed until after a month." Her voice shook, holding the needles too tight. "Gakushuu took care of me—like he always has." Her stomach churned. "We learned how to cook and clean and..."

Ritsu was staring at her with wide eyes. "Is she still like that now?"

Mitsuko gave a pained laugh. "As if!" She looked at Ritsu in disbelief. "No. As soon as my dad actually tuned in long enough to realize, he made her get better."

"He... _made_ her get better?" Ritsu repeated slowly.

Mitsuko shrugged. "She just got sent away for a few months. Now she's fine."

Ritsu stared at her with a growing look of horror. "And you're okay with that?"

Mitsuko frowned. "Well, yeah, she was sick, now she isn't." She shrugged uncomfortably. "How else am I meant to feel?"

"Maybe concerned that she maybe _isn't_ okay?" Ritsu challenged, frowning. "She's your mother."

Mitsuko swallowed a bad taste, knitting another line. "She's a pain in my ass most of the time."

"That tends to be what most mothers are," Ritsu said softly. "You said the Principal is a jerk, but imagine being married to a man like that."

Mitsuko felt a lump in her throat. "...Well, she still loves him, so..." She grimaced, making another mistake in the stitching. "So, it's her own fault."

"...You don't really believe that."

She grimaced, meeting Ritsu's judging gaze. "I don't hate my mom, but she's useless, Ritsu." She sighed, shaking her head. "And if you really knew her you'd agree."

Ritsu stared at her sadly before looking away. "Fine..." She shook her head as she knitted. "I'm sorry I asked."

Mitsuko stared at her for a moment before she looked back at the tutorial.

* * *

Mitsuko poked at the eggs her mom had made her, sitting at the table for breakfast. Her gaze shifted to the Principal and then her brother before it rested on the empty seat opposite her; her mom was still cleaning up the dishes even though they had a perfectly functioning dishwasher.

Her brow furrowed slightly, looking over her shoulder at the woman before she shifted her gaze to the plate of food on the counter.

"Your food's getting cold, mom," Mitsuko spoke before she realised.

Her mom froze, looking up in surprise, while her brother paused and the Principal lowered his newspaper a fraction.

"I...I'll eat it later," Mom replied warily, frowning.

Mitsuko gave her a look. "We have a dishwasher for a reason."

Gakushuu frowned slightly, looking between them both.

Mom looked put on the spot, brow furrowed, and her gaze shifting around uneasily.

The Principal sighed, appearing bored already as he turned the page. "The dishwasher was bought for a reason."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow in his direction before looking back at mom. "If you want cold food so bad, then carry on." She shrugged, turning around to finish eating. "You're the one who made it."

There was a pause, and then some movement and the sound of her taking off the rubber gloves and picking up her plate.

Mitsuko glanced up when mom sat opposite her and started to eat.

There was complete silence for a good five minutes as they all scraped their cutlery against the plate.

"...The eggs are good," Mitsuko said lightly.

There was a pause. "Thank you..." Mom replied tightly.

Gakushuu glanced at their mother as he picked up his glass of orange juice. "Thank you for breakfast."

"It's fine," Mom replied just as dismissively.

There was another long stretch of silence, as Mitsuko observed her family for a moment. No one was really speaking and you could cut the tension with a knife but...well, it almost seemed normal.


	15. I won't tell anyone

It only took three days to learn all the tasks she'd been given...well the majority of them anyway. 

Mitsuko dumped the bag of objects on Koro-sensei's after class. "It's done."

"I can see that." Koro-sensei looked amused, lifting up the finished Rubix cubes and then the notepad full of illustrations.

"Since Art can be subjective and you didn't provide a reference, the drawings may not be the exact quality you wanted," she told him as he looked through each one. "I experimented with different styles."

"They're wonderful," Koro-sensei said, smiling wider. "You really did these in three days?"

"12 hours to be precise, but there's room for improvement, I guess." She shrugged again. "I already had a fundamental skill in Art so it wasn't that hard—I still don't understand why you wanted me to master cards, but I'm pretty much a pro at Solitaire now, so..."

"The objective was to have fun, Mitsuko," Koro-sensei said, placing the note-pad down.

She raised an eyebrow. "Right, sure."

He looked through the bag and pulled out one of the scarfs she'd made, making her grow on edge. "How did you find knitting?"

"I was..." Mitsuko swallowed thickly, fidgeting slightly. "Unable to properly master it yet, but I am still working on it and advancing."

Koro-sensei perked up. "I see." He looked at the scarf and chuckled. "So...you enjoyed it?"

"I never said that," she replied quickly.

Koro-sensei laughed. "But you haven't denied it!" He teased, poking her head.

She glared at him. "Screw you." She whacked his tentacle away. "This whole thing is dumb, and it's not going to work."

"Hm." Koro-sensei straightened up. "Well, I disagree." He took the knitting needles out from the bag. "A hobby can be more than just another skill."

"I...okay, I get that point but mastering a lot of skills is important," she said, shrugging. "It's important because that's how you become the best and if you're not best then you're just... _ordinary._ " She swallowed, feeling uneasy. "And if you're ordinary then you might as well spend the rest of your life in a cubicle being a corporate slave—it's mediocrity."

"Success isn't measured by your position in life, Mitsuko," Koro-sensei told her. "As I'm sure there many corporate slaves who consider themselves a success."

  
"Yeah, well that's because they're settling, they're not _really_ happy," Mitsuko argued.

"And how do you know that?"

She grew flustered. "Because, because—who the hell would be happy?!" she snapped. "For what? Letting other people control you? To be weak and ordered around like some monkey?" Mitsuko shook her head, looking disgusted. "I'm not letting anyone do that to me or...I'm _not_ going be like that."

Koro-sensei stared at her curiously. "And why is that?"

"I..." Mitsuko clamped her mouth shut, swallowing.

Koro-sensei sighed, scratching his bald yellow head. "I know you're stressed about finals. You're in a very difficult position with your father and brother." He patted her shoulder reassuringly. "But they're not the ones taking the test, you are. I know you can do this."

She clasped her hands too tight, squeezing. "I can't fail again."

"You won't," he said gently.

_You don't know that._

She stepped away from him, feeling sick. "You keep saying that, but you don't know what it's like when I'm at the desk and the test starts." She rubbed her stomach, turning away from him. "Everything goes wrong and I keep failing."

"Mitsuko—"

"No, no, just stop," she stressed, growing more agitated. "I don't want you to tell me everything is going to be fine, because it isn't." Her brow furrowed. "There's something wrong with me, and I don't know how to fix it."

Koro-sensei was quiet for a moment. "What do you think needs fixing?"

She could feel the vomit coming, it burning her stomach inside and needed to come out. "Well, vomiting for one thing," she replied scathingly, leaning on the desk to stop her arm from shaking. "I don't think there are enough coping mechanisms in the world to solve that..."

"And when did the vomiting start?" he asked measuredly.

Mitsuko kept her back to him, picking at the skin on her arm. "I don't know." She shrugged. "It just started."

"Forgive me, but I find that hard to believe," he replied lightly.

She swallowed, scratching at a spot on her arm which wouldn't stop itching. "Well, that's unfortunate."

"Mitsuko, I can't help if you keep lying to me."

"I'm not lying," she said defensively. "I don't know why it keeps happening." Her voice shook, shifting agitatedly.

"But I think you do know when it started," he told her patiently. "I can't help you unless I know."

"I'll..." She sat down at one the desks, feeling queasy. "...Tell me something about yourself, then I'll tell," she said quietly, looking at him. "Information for information, remember?"

"...What do you want to know?" he asked tentatively. 

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. "Tell me something you're ashamed of."

Koro-sensei remained quiet for a while. "...I used to have a student who I raised for a number of years."

Her eyes widened in shock. "You what?!"

Koro-sensei gave a soft chuckle. "He was a very brilliant boy and that's as much as I can say."

Mitsuko stared at him warily, wondering if he was lying. "So you're ashamed of him."

"No, I'm not ashamed of _him_ ," he replied quietly, looking oddly serious. "He wasn't the problem."

Mitsuko frowned, trying to understand. "Okay, fine..." She swallowed, looking down after a while. "Well..." She placed her hands on her lap, working up the nerve. "Fine." She forced herself to meet his gaze. "I failed my finals last year," she told him. "And...my dad, he was...he was disappointed so he..." She looked at her hands, scratching her palm. "He made me tea, and it had this drug in it. Ipecac, which is—you can't really buy it anymore, but he made it so...um..." Her eyes stung, making her blink too much. "Yeah...so the drug worked and I vomited, and now I keep vomiting and I don't know how to stop it."

Koro-sensei didn't utter a word for a long while, which was probably the worst thing about it.

"He made you vomit?" Something dark was in his tone.

Mitsuko let out a shallow breath, shrugging. "It was a lesson in failure." She half-shrugged. "I shouldn't have even drunk the tea. I should have known better, Gakushuu wouldn't have drunk it..."

"Your father should not have done that," Koro-sensei's tentacles changed to red.

Her eyes widened in alarm, tensing as she looked up. "Sir...?"

But when she looked up the red was gone, like he'd hidden it.

He let out a deep sigh, looking down at her. "What your father did was very damaging and I can safely say that it is what triggered all this vomiting," he told her, bending down more to her level. "Trauma can leave scars, even if we tell ourselves we're fine." He rested a tentacle on her head comfortingly. "It's not something that can be easily pushed to the side or ignored."

Mitsuko swallowed a bad taste. "Well, what else am I meant to do?"

Koro-sensei sighed, looking away from her for a moment. "I don't have an easy answer, Mitsuko." His beady eyes shifted to the knitting needles, picking them back up. "All I can recommend is that we take one step at a time." He placed the wool and needles on her lap. "You were very brave to tell me."

She cringed, feeling like a child. "It wasn't brave." Her hands coiled around the wool protectively. "I just wanted you to stop nagging..."

He chuckled. "Of course..." He patted her hands reassuringly. "But I still think it was very strong of you."

Her cheeks heated from embarrassment. "Yeah, well if you tell anyone he'll fire you so...don't."

"He's welcome to try."The laugh he made was somewhat hollow and harsh. "But regardless, I won't violate your trust by telling others. Not until you're ready."

The corner of her lips curled into an unsure smile.

* * *

"Well." Her brother looked at her expectantly from behind his pile of books; looking less formal than he usually did in his t-shirt and jacket. "Did you get my coffee or not?"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and placed the steaming Starbucks cup in front of him. "There was a line." She sat down opposite him, the who two of them in a study corner of the city library. "And black coffee's for old businessmen."

"And, latte's are for dropout academics who wear fake glasses and bad hats—your point?" He raised an eyebrow.

Mitsuko glared at him as she drank her latte. "You're such a jerk."

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and then drank a sip; his face instantly scrunched up at the taste, spitting it out. "Is this _decaf!?"_ He looked at her in outrage. "Are you _trying_ to kill me?"

"Decaf was all they had!" Mitsuko snapped.

Gakushuu shoved the coffee to the side like it was poison. "I can't drink this."

Her eye twitched as she felt a growing need to throttle him. "You're such a drama queen." She re-opened her English textbook on the place she'd bookmarked. "If you don't want it, get your own."

"Tsk." He shook his head and turned back to his book. "How far did you get with the reading before you left?"

"I'm nearly at the end and personally the morals of it are pretty shallow," she replied, shrugging as she searched in her bag to grab her half-finished scarf. "Did you read ' _We have always lived in a castle'_ yet?" She smiled, picking up her needles. "I was surprised by how much I liked it."

Her brother kept his gaze focussed on the books. "I finished it. It's unlikely to come up on the test, though."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, leaning back. "I didn't read it because it would be on the test." She sighed, looking at him. "Anyway, how's Class A?"

"Annoyingly dependent," Gakushuu replied, bored, writing. "How's Class E? Set fire to any buildings yet?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You're hilarious."

He smirked, looking up. "You haven't denied it."

She rolled her eyes, knitting. "If they set a fire, you'll be the first to know." She shook her head, sighing. "Things are fine."

"Of course they are." Her brother hummed, staring at her curiously, clasping his hands on the desk as he watched her knit. "And you're knitting a scarf during summer because...?"

"It's a hobby," she replied dismissively, taking a sip of her latte. "Besides, I like it."

He rolled his eyes, turning the page of his book. "It's a waste of time."

Mitsuko felt a flare of irritation, narrowing her gaze from behind her cup. "Well, thank you for insulting the thing I like."

Her brother frowned, pausing from his writing to look up. "There's no need to be so sensitive."

The irritation grew been when she tried to push it down. "Right, sure..." Her tone had a bite to it, as she lowered her cup and flicked the book to the next page.

Gakushuu dropped his pen and narrowed his eyes. "Why are you suddenly in a mood?"

She gave him a look, shaking her head at his denseness. "I'm not." She sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "I just don't like it when I say I like something and you call it stupid or useless." Her voice was dismissive. "I mean, personally I think black coffee is disgusting and it makes you smell like an ashtray, but that's just my personal opinion—"

"Okay, I get it." He looked annoyed. "You don't have to be so dramatic about it."

Mitsuko gave him a measured look. "You spat out decaf like it was poison, and _I'm_ the one being dramatic?"

His jaw tightened. "Are you going to let this go or not?"

She grimaced, shaking her head in exasperation. "Fine." She resumed knitting. "I've already forgotten about it."

"Good." He still looked irritated, turning back to his work.

Mitsuko sighed quietly, calming down as she focused on her hands weaving the thread around the needle.

_One step at a time._

_What did that really even mean?_

_How was talking about it meant to help? It just felt like repeating the same sad story over and over..._

_I shouldn't have even told him about the Principal...why did I do that?_

Mitsuko made a few mistakes in the stitch pattern when he hands shook.

 _Gakushuu wouldn't have said anything_.

She looked at her brother briefly before looking down.

"What?" He didn't even look up from what he was doing. "What's wrong this time?"

_Everything._

"Nothing," she replied, trying not to grimace.

He raised an eyebrow as he wrote. "In other words, there is something wrong," he responded, sighing. "What is it?"

She sighed again, stopping from what she was doing.

_Koro-sensei kept pushing me to be more honest...and I can trust Gakushuu._

"I...I told my teacher what the Principal did with the tea and..." Mitsuko told him apprehensively. 

Gakushuu stiffened, dropping his pen. "What?" He looked up in alarm. "Why would you do that?"

_Okay, being honest definitely was not the best choice..._

"He was pressuring me," Mitsuko replied uncomfortably, trying to shrug it off. "He kept asking about the vomiting and, I don't know...I just told him."

He curled his hands into fists and leaned back like he was steadying himself. "You shouldn't have done that."

Her throat was dry. "Why? It's not like he's going to tell anyone, the Principal is his boss."

"You don't know for sure that he won't tell," he snapped, clenching his fist on the table as he leveled her with a glare. "All he has to do is say _one word,_ and then how much worse do you think it's going to make things?"

She kept her eyes low, gripping the needles too tight. "Things are already bad."

"Well they aren't going to get any better now that you spread our business to a stranger," he said firmly, looking at her like she was a moron.

"He's my teacher," she argued, trying to ignore her uneasiness.

"Who works for the Principal," he replied bitingly. "And you're trusting him?"

Mitsuko gritted her teeth. "I didn't tell you so you could get mad at me," she rebuked, swallowing her nervousness. "I told you because you're my brother and...and I think maybe if we told people—"

"Absolutely not," Gakushuu interrupted with finality. "Telling won't magically fix things." He shook his head. "Do you think your teacher's even going to do anything?"

She bit down hard on her tongue.

_Koro-sensei couldn't even stop Takaoka._

Her stomach ached as she shook her head. "No..."

"Exactly." Gakushuu stared at her for a moment before he sighed. "We'll deal with the Principal on our terms."

_Just us._

She was starting to grow sick of that.

Mitsuko closed her eyes, feeling nauseous. "You keep saying that." She looked at him tiredly. "But I don't know if I can hold out that long, Gakushuu," she told him as his gaze softened. "I'm tired of constantly having to fight him alone every day."

Her brother lowered his gaze. "You're not the only one fighting him." His brow wrinkled after a second, looking up. "We have to keep doing this until we're strong enough."

She grimaced, feeling exhausted like they were going around in circles. "And when will that be?" she asked dully.

Something cold overshadowed his gaze. "When I have the upper hand."

_Why is it always you who needs to gain the upper hand?_

Mitsuko sighed, staring at her textbook. "Right..."

"Did you tell anyone else besides your teacher?" he asked.

"No." She raised her gaze tiredly.

"Good." He looked faintly relieved. "Let's keep it that way." He picked up his pen. "This is our business and we'll handle it ourselves."

She nodded along with what he was saying, barely paying attention.

_Just us._

It was like some godforsaken mantra she couldn't get rid of, constantly pounding in her head.

Then her phone started ringing, distracting both of them.

Mitsuko dumped her knitting on the table as she glanced at her bag and then took out her phone; it was Rio calling. She smiled despite herself, feeling that sick sensation start to fade. 

"Hi," she answered hastily, ignoring her brother as she stood up. "What's up?"

 _"Hey, I'm fine,"_ Rio replied. _"What are you doing right now?"_

Mitsuko moved over to some bookshelves. "Um, just studying at the city library." She cast a look over her shoulder at her brother before turning around. "Why?"

 _"Of course you're studying,"_ Rio said, amused. _"I was just wondering if you free in the next hour? It's Laredo's wedding so I'm not allowed to look like a homeless person."_

Mitsuko felt her heart soar. "I'd love to!" she said a little too fast. "Um...I mean..." She cleared her throat. "As long as it's in the city, I have other stuff to do later on."

_"Yeah, I'm on my way right now, just let me know when you're free."_

"I'm free now," Mitsuko said, forcing a laugh. "I'll meet you at ...uh, at the station?"

_"Yeah, that's fine, see you then."_

"Okay, cool. Bye." Mitsuko ended the call and then squealed in delight. "Finally!"

"Who was that?" Gakushuu was suddenly leaning on the bookcase next to her.

She scowled, clutching the phone protectively. "My friend."

He eyed her intently. "Are you...blushing?"

Mitsuko stiffened, avoiding his gaze. "Don't be ridiculous," she replied quickly, walking past him. "I'm going shopping with them."

"We're meant to be studying." He walked in front of her, crossing his arms.

Mitsuko frowned, pocketing the phone. "It's just a break, I'll only be an hour tops." She moved past him and grabbed her bag. "Besides, it's not like you need my help."

He looked irritated. "And who are you meeting?"

She sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Why do you care so much?" the knitting needles and textbook got stuffed back in her bag. "I'll see you later."

His eyes narrowed, teeth gritted—he was pissed off, but for once, she didn't care as much as she should.

* * *

"How does this look?" Rio came out wearing a tight cream dress with a high neckline.

Mitsuko gulped. "Uh..."

_Don't be a pervert._

Rio raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"...Does it come in pink?"

"God no!" Rio looked offended, rolling her eyes as she wandered back into the changing rooms. "I'm thinking of something bluer."

"Good call." Mitsuko let out a deep breath and leaned back on the curved sofa. The dress shop was definitely catered to a more western style, especially with the design of the dresses. There was a spark of Japanese tradition in some of the patterns. "So when's Laredo's wedding?"

"A few weeks," Rio replied, shrugging. "He's trying to fit it in with his university break."

Mitsuko frowned, staring up the ceiling fans. "Don't people normally wait until after they finish college?"

"Yeah." Rio peaked her head from around the curtain. "But he's in _love!_ " she exclaimed theatrically, smirking as she pretended to faint. Mitsuko laughed. "Besides, they want to save up to travel, so I guess getting the wedding out of the way will save in the long run?" She shrugged, disappearing behind the curtain again.

"Have you met his fiancé?"

"Once or twice. Her name's Roberta, she'll make a good sister-in-law I guess; she travels a lot so she's pretty cool," she replied, shuffling around behind the curtain. "Do you think I could get away with a pants suit."

Mitsuko smirked, shrugging. "Well, if you want your brother to skin you alive, then sure."

"Oh, _wow,_ you're so funny," Rio remarked dryly. "Okay...ugh..." There was some shuffling from inside the changing room. "Damn it. Mitsuko! Help me put this stupid thing on."

Mitsuko froze. "What?"

There was a sigh as Rio popped her head around the curtain again. "I need your help zipping up."

"Um..." Mitsuko blushed, looking down.

Rio rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking for a groping, I just need you to zip me up."

"Don't talk like that!" Mitsuko went bright red, standing up.

She sighed loudly. "Just help. _Please_." The curtain closed a second later.

Mitsuko grimaced, looking around self-consciously as she walked over to the changing room. "Okay..."

Rio had her back to her, the dress unzipped halfway. "I can't reach the button at the top and the zip gets stuck in the middle."

"Right..." Mitsuko swallowed, staring at her spine as she zipped the dress up slowly; her finger brushed skin without even realizing.

Rio leaned in ever so slightly to the touch, making Mitsuko freeze.

_Is she enjoying this?_

"Everything okay?" The other girl looked over her shoulder.

Mitsuko quickly looked down. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, as she hastily zipped the rest of the dress up. "There." She buttoned the top, letting her hands linger by her neck for a little too long. "Done."

"Thanks." Rio turned around, smiling brightly. "So..." She twirled around on the spot, giving her full view. "What do you think?"

Mitsuko looked the blue dress over, there was a subtle velvet print of lilies decorating the dress and the style reminded her of a kimono but westernized.

"I like it."

Rio smirked. "Well, that was given." She looked at the price tag and grinned. "And since brother-dearest is paying the bill, the pricier the better!"

Mitsuko smirked. "He's going to kill you."

"He's been trying for years." Rio's grin widened. "And I'm still here." She turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. "You think I could get away with wearing sneakers?"

* * *

Mitsuko leaned against the front door and sighed contently, smiling to herself.

The light in the hallway turned on. "So did you enjoy your shopping trip?" Gakushuu was leaning by the stairs, glaring at her.

She rolled her eyes and moved off the door. "Yes, I did." She made her way to the kitchen, feeling hungry.

Gakushuu let out a deep sigh. "You may think I'm being unreasonable, but you can't afford to slack off."

Mitsuko opened the fridge, looking for leftovers. "It was a couple of hours, Gaku-nii." She grabbed a tub of rice and vegetables. "Tomorrow's Sunday, I'll catch up then." She took the lid off and placed it to the side.

"You wouldn't need to catch up if you hadn't wasted time today." He kept pestering, standing by the counter while she stuck the tub in the microwave. "I can't help you study if you blow me off."

She sighed, starting the timer on the microwave. "Look, I'm sorry, about leaving early, but I just wanted to hang out with my friend."

"Another End Class delinquent?" her brother replied testily, crossing his arms. "You seem to be hanging out with them a lot these days."

Mitsuko narrowed her gaze. "What are you...?" Then she felt a flare of anger. "Have you been keeping tabs on me?!"

"I have better things to do than spy on you, Mitsuko," he replied evenly. "Unfortunately, my classmates don't." He scrutinized her. "Araki claims he saw you hanging out with one of the delinquents who used to vandalize—"

"Sugaya didn't _vandalize_ anything!" she snapped, feeling a spark of protectiveness. "Stop twisting--"

He talked over her. "Then even the Principal mentioned that you're hanging out with Nakamura again."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth. "Since when do you listen to him?"

"It's hard to ignore him when he's gloating," he replied coldly. "You're practically giving him an excuse to make your life worse."

" _Worse_?" She almost laughed. "He had me vomiting on the floor a few months ago, I already know what his worst is."

"He'll find a way to make it worse," Gakushuu said firmly. "I'm _trying_ to protect you."

Her stomach twisted with guilt. "I know you're trying..."

"Then listen to me." He sounded more agitated. "You can't afford to slack off or let anyone distract you from getting back to A-Class." His gaze narrowed. "That's what we _both_ want, remember?"

_Yes._

_No..._

_Shut up!_

"I remember..." She sighed, folding her arms. "I'm not slacking off." She rubbed her arm self-consciously, trying not to think of Rio.

"But you are distracted and it isn't just E Class, is it?" he said, leveling her with a look. "You were acting weird after that phone call."

Mitsuko sighed, turning away to take the food out of the microwave when it pinged. "Gakushuu, just drop it."

He grabbed the tub from her and pushed it out of reach, making her turn to him fully. "Just tell me what's wrong?"

There was a rotten taste in her mouth.

_One step at a time._

"I can't." She backed away slightly as she maintained his gaze.

"Why?" He was growing more frustrated. "I'm your brother if you can't tell me then who can you tell?"

_A lot more than you'd think..._

She grimaced, trying to smother her panic. "I just can't. I'm sorry."

_Please, just stop asking._

He was silent for a moment, frowning the longer he stared at her. "...Are you afraid to tell me?"

Her grimace grew, feeling more weighed down than ever. "It's complicated."

His brow furrowed more. "You are afraid." His eyes narrowed. "Did the Principal do something?"

"No." She sighed, pushing a hair behind her ear. "It's not him it's...I...it's..." Her words tumbled over each other in a mess. "It's me. _I'm_ the problem."

"Mitsuko..." His voice softened to something less demanding. "What are you talking about?"

Her chest tightened, for the first time in years, it looked like he was actually listening to her.

"I can't..." her voice was small, wanting to shrivel up and hide.

"If someone's hurt you, you need to tell me," he said firmly, gripping her shoulder.

"It's not that," she replied, wrapped her arms around herself. "And if I tell you, everything's going to be different."

"How would things be different?" Her brother was actually starting to sound worried. "You're not making any sense." He sighed deeply. "Just tell me what's wrong...please."

_He rarely ever said please and actually meant it._

Mitsuko swallowed back some vomit when her throat burned and forced herself to look at him. "I like...someone," she said slowly, feeling her leg shake from nerves.

"All right," he replied with a rare amount of genuine patience. "So you like someone... _and?"_

It took a great deal of effort to force the next few words out, "but they're not a boy."

Gakushuu blinked twice and then three times, staring at her in complete silence for exactly ten seconds.

_Eleven_

_Twelve...Thirteen..._

_Now it was fourteen seconds._

"They're not a boy?" he repeated slowly, removing his hands from her shoulders.

She clasped her hands to stop them from shaking. "It's not a boy," she confirmed, nodding.

_Please don't hate me._

Her brother started to nod hesitantly, as his gaze drifted away. "I see..."

They stayed in silence for another long while; the food she'd warmed up was already going cold. 

Mitsuko's legs were shaking so badly she was scared they might give way. "Say something, _please_."

He jerked his head up to look at her again. "I..." Then his brow furrowed, shaking his head as he straightened up. "I understand why you didn't want to tell me."

"And...?" She looked at him hopefully.

"And...it's all right," Gakushuu said after a while, sighing. "It doesn't change anything." He held his head higher. "And girl or boy, having a crush is not an excuse to neglect your studies and—"

Mitsuko tackled him in a hug, crying into his shoulder as she held him tight. "I love you."

His whole body was tense and his hands stayed at his side like she was hugging a ragdoll. "...I..." He hesitantly lifted his arm and rested it on her back. "I...love you too," the words sounded clinical but she knew he was trying to make the effort.

She held him tight enough to suffocate, burying her face in his shoulder. "Don't tell mom and dad... _please_..." she whispered, closing her eyes tight.

His other hand rested on the top of her head protectively. "I won't tell anyone."


	16. You Could do Better

To Mitsuko's surprise, Gakushuu had made an effort to actually spend some quality time with her outside of studying or some club.

She happily slurped down some noodles while she sat across from him in a nice upscale restaurant. "Hmm, this is pretty good!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I can tell." Then he reached into his pocket. "Anyway, I wanted to discuss something with you."

Mitsuko swallowed, giving him a curious look. "Such as...?"

Gakushuu took out a small notebook and cleared his throat. "I've compiled a list of lesbians—"

Mitsuko choked on some noodles, going into a full coughing fit where she was retching loudly.

A waiter hurried over in concern but she waved him off, spitting the chewed up chicken and scrap of noodles into a napkin. "I-I'm fine," she wheezed, coughing again.

The waiter looked worried still but Gakushuu waved him off. "She's fine." Her brother sighed, watching her with disinterest. "Are you quite done?"

She glared at him as the waiter left. "How else am I supposed to react?!"

"Keep your voice down," he whispered, shaking his head as he slid the notepad over. "Listen, I just thought it would be helpful."

Mitsuko gave him a confused look before taking the list. "Why? Do you expect me to start a club?"

"Not exactly," he replied lightly.

She narrowed her gaze and looked through the names, and then frowned. "Tsuda's a lesbian?"

Her brother shrugged. "I saw her making out with a girl on the school roof once."

Mitsuko's eyes widened in surprise. " _What_?"

He shrugged again, eating some of his food. "I was just passing by when I saw it." Gakushuu sighed. "The other side has a list of boys, I believe one of them is Bi, but I can't be sure."

Mitsuko stared at him for a long while before looking down at her food. "Did someone drug my food, or you actually being serious right now?"

His brow furrowed, sipping his water. "I'm just trying to provide alternative options for you." He smiled politely. "For instant, Tsuda is much more accommodating and a much better influence than Nakamura."

Her stomach twisted, tensing. "I thought you said it didn't matter?" Her voice was quieter than intended.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "I clearly don't have an issue with you liking or dating girls, Mitsuko." He sighed impatiently. " _However,_ I do think Nakamura is a poor choice on your part."

Mitsuko narrowed eyes at him. "Are you actually being serious right now?"

Her brother gave her a pointed look. "I just think you could do better."

She felt a rise of indignation curl in her stomach and fester. "And I think you're being a total asshole right now." She slid the notebook back to him. "You can't just arrange my relationships, Gakushuu."

He drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. "I'm not arranging anything—"

"Oh, yes, _clearly."_

His gaze narrowed. " _But_ as your brother, I'm entitled to voice my concerns—"

" _Please_ , just stop." Mitsuko groaned, running a hand over her face. "Just shut up for once." She sighed and then fixed him with a stern look. "Listen, I understand that you're just trying to protect me and all that big brother, whatever, but..." She smiled apologetically. "I _really_ like Rio, and I need you to respect my decision, Gaku-nii."

Gakushuu's expression tightened as his eyes narrowed more. "You don't even know if she likes you the same way."

Her smile dropped, swallowing a bad taste. "I know she does."

Her brother scoffed quietly, shaking his head as he leaned back. "You haven't even told her."

"Just..." Mitsuko smothered a painful feeling which had started to spread, keeping calm. "Just stop it, okay." She clasped her hands tight on her lap. "If you keep doing this, I'm leaving and you can pay the bill."

He scrutinised her for a moment before scowling. "Fine." He straightened up and slipped the notebook back in his pocket. "Be stubborn about it." He sighed, drinking some more water. "But you know I'm right."

Mitsuko kept her temper in check, letting out a deep breath and picked up the dessert menu. "I'm bored with this conversation. Let's order dessert."

* * *

"Wow...Your brother's an asshole." Sugaya looked up from his sketchpad, his fingers were already stained with ink.

"I know right!" Mitsuko agreed, pacing back and forth in front of his desk.

Sugaya shrugged, placing the half-finished drawing down to pick up his sister's tabby cat that had wandered in. "Is he really always that controlling?"

She grimaced, pausing in front of the window. "...Well, yeah I guess..." An uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. "He's older so it makes sense." She turned around. "He just wants to protect me, so..."

"I guess, but it's still weird." Sugaya frowned, stroking the cat on his lap behind the ears until it purred. "He just seems really over-controlling."

Mitsuko sighed, sitting on the bed opposite him. "It's complicated." She laid back and stared at the ceiling. "I like the fact that he'll always protect me, and I appreciate it, but...he's starting to get worse than the Principal sometimes."

"That's...kind of terrifying," he replied bluntly.

She rolled her eyes and sat up. "The main problem is that he doesn't like Rio...well, looking back he's never really liked her anyway—but he could at least respect my decision."

Sugaya sighed, leaning against the desk. "Listen, you need to stop caring so much about your family disliking Rio. Otherwise, you'll just let it mess things up."

Mitsuko scowled, burying her face in his pillow. "I know, it's stupid!" she mumbled into the pillow, wanting to bash her head against the wall. "But I can't help it, okay! It bothers me."

She heard him sigh again and get up from the chair. "Dude, seriously, just chill." He dropped the cat next to her, earning her a whack in the face from its tail. "They're a bunch of jerks anyway."

"Ugh!" She shoved the fat heap of fur away when it tried to climb on her. "Stop."

Sugaya smirked, sitting next to her. "Look, tons of girlfriends and boyfriends get rejected by the parents, just don't let it get to you and...I don't know, make it clear that you're going to stick by Nakamura regardless."

Mitsuko sighed, resting her head on the pillow as the cat wandered over to Sugaya. "That could backfire badly..." She propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at him.

He shrugged, stroking that fat furball's ears again. "Yeah, well, you're going to have to introduce her properly to your family as your girlfriend eventually so..."

"I know." She chewed her lip, frowning. "It's only a matter of time..." Her stomach churned with dread. "We'll have to have dinner with them."

Sugaya's gaze widened. "Wait, so you're actually gonna tell Nakamura—?"

"Oh, no not yet," Mitsuko replied dismissively, distracted in her own thoughts.

He looked confused. "Then why would you do a full hey-meet-my-girlfriend family dinner?"

"Gakushuu and my dad can complain all they want about her, but I need to make it clear that it isn't going to stop me from seeing her." She sat up properly, crossing her legs. "I want to show them how amazing she is!"

"Okay..." Sugaya replied slowly. "Still not sure about that, but _okay_."

"It'll be fine." She managed a smile. "Besides, like you said, the awkward family dinners are going to happen eventually so we might as well start easing into it."

* * *

_Easing into it had not been the right word...maybe bulldozing?_

It was uncomfortable either way, but Mitsuko had resigned herself to that and she'd frankly been surprised that her family had even agreed to the whole thing—though _technically_ , the family meal was a _birthday_ meal for Mom and Rio was more of a plus-one...but still...it counted. Sort of.

Mitsuko glanced at her mom from behind her juice, everything looked fine all things considered. Mom was only on her second glass of wine and the Principal hadn't made any veiled insults for a good fifteen minutes.

Rio was focusing entirely on eating her food and had barely looked at her.

Gakushuu was doing much the same, except he was occasionally giving Rio the odd glare.

_Either way, the whole thing felt more uncomfortable than shitting in a public toilet._

Mitsuko gulped down her juice a little too loudly, earning some looks from her family. "Um..." She forced a smile, placing her empty glass down. "So, this is...nice."

Her mom smiled tightly. "Yes, it is lovely." She took a long sip of her drink and nodded to her husband. "Thank you, Gakuhou."

"It was no trouble," he replied lightly.

Rio looked between the two of them warily. "Um..." She smiled forcefully. "Thanks for inviting me, Mrs Asano."

Mom looked at her for a moment before smiling politely. "Well, Mitsuko practically demanded it so..." Her smile tightened. "Who was I to argue." She shot her daughter a look. "Besides, it's been...how long since we last saw you?" She raised an eyebrow. "One, two years?"

"Four," Rio replied.

"Four. Yes." Mom nodded, sipping her wine. "It felt shorter for some reason."

Mitsuko gave a strained laugh. " _So_ , anyway, the weather has been really good these past few weeks." She nodded, trying to ignore the awkwardness. "Honestly, it's going to be a really good summer."

Rio was smiling a little too widely. "Yeah! I know right, this weather, just..." She looked at Mitsuko's parents and nodded along with her. "So much sun. It's going to be a great summer...yep."

Mitsuko tried not to wince when her parents just stared at them blankly.

_Just kill me, please._

_Why did I think this could work?_

"So, Nakamura..." Mom smiled politely, placing her glass down long enough to finally eat something. "How has your mother been?"

"Oh, she's great," Rio said, smiling wide. "She's learning Chinese."

Mom conveyed the appropriate amount of interest. "Oh, that's interesting. Is she planning a trip."

"No, not yet," Rio replied, keeping that smile in place. "My brother's getting married, so that's what everyone's focussing on right now."

"Married?" Mom repeated, nodding. "I see. That's lovely."

Mitsuko nodded, shooting Rio a smile. "Yeah, it's going to be great."

Gakuhou raised an eyebrow. "Do you plan on attending?"

Her smile stiffened. "I was invited."

"Oh." Mom's brow furrowed. "When were you planning on telling us that, Mitsuko?"

"Closer to the time," Mitsuko replied evenly, before eating some salmon.

"Yeah, that's my bad, sorry," Rio tried to joke. "She's my plus-one so..."

Mom's frown deepened, tilting her head slightly. "Aren't plus-ones normally boys?"

Mitsuko nearly choked.

If Rio was annoyed she didn't let it show. " _Well,_ if I could get a guy, then yeah it would be a boy," she joked, smiling sweetly. "But, since I'm hopeless at that, Mitsuko's taken pity on me." She flashed Mitsuko a smile, making her blush faintly. "She's better company anyway."

Mitsuko quickly composed herself a second later. "Plus-ones can also be best friends as well." She glanced at Gakushuu who was barely holding back a glare. "Either way, you guys don't need to give me a lift, the Nakamuras have already offered."

"Well, that's fine then." Mom's smiled wavered briefly before she picked up her glass again and drank. "Nakamura, please let your parents know we appreciate their hospitality."

"I will," Rio replied curtly. "I'm sure they appreciate yours."

The Principal's lip twitched upwards, as a small smile crept onto his face. "Weddings aside, how are you all preparing for finals?"

Mitsuko felt her smile drop, narrowing her gaze.

Rio grinned. "Oh, it's going great!" She looked over at Gakushuu as her smile grew crooked; his gaze grew cold. "We're looking forward to the challenge. Right, Mitsuko?"

She nodded quickly, ignoring her uneasiness. "Yes, it's definitely going to be interesting."

"Hopefully not as interesting as last time?" The Principal asked lightly, eyeing her from behind his glass.

Mitsuko tensed, while Rio's gaze narrowed. Gakushuu gripped his fork too tight and fixed their father with a cold look.

"Why what happened last time?" Mom asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mitsuko's mouth was dry.

_Don't react. Don't let him win._

Rio held her hand under the table, nearly making her flinch.

"Nothing." Mitsuko found it hard to swallow. "Just some class rivalry."

"Oh..." Mom's brow furrowed, staring at her warily. "I see." She glanced at her husband and then son but both their expressions were closed off. "Alright then..."

Mitsuko eased her hand out of Rio's grip, feeling uncomfortable.

The Principal then smiled. "So, Nakamura-san," he continued without missing a beat. "What are your plans for the future?"

Rio shifted her gaze from her to him. "Oh, well, right now I've been thinking of becoming a diplomat." She shrugged, poking at her food. "I'm really interested in travelling and negotiations and all that stuff."

Mom looked pleasantly surprised. "That is very ambitious."

"Yeah." Rio looked like she wasn't sure the woman was giving her a compliment or not. "I guess it is."

"Rio's really good at English," Mitsuko spoke up, shooting the blonde a smile. "So she'll be great."

Rio's smile brightened. "You're not so bad yourself." She nudged her. "I still can't pronounce the v's like you do."

Mitsuko grinned. "That's because you spend half the time saying it wrong on purpose—you know; she's going to catch on eventually."

Rio's grin was sly. "I know, but I'm still going to have fun with it."

Mitsuko's laughed a little, smiling to herself briefly until she remembered where she was. "Yeah. Like I said," she looked at her parents. "Rio's really good—she used to be a part of the radio club last year. "

"Really?" Mom said, nodding along with supposed interest. "That's nice. It's disappointing that you had to leave it." She smiled blandly. "I know Mitsuko was upset about having to give up so many extracurriculars."

"I didn't actually care that much, mom," Mitsuko said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I seem to remember it differently," Mom replied with forced pleasantness.

Mitsuko gave a strained laugh. "Really? I don't."

Rio started to look uneasy. "Anyway, so, yeah. I want to be a diplomat."

"Have you any universities lined up?" The Principal asked politely before taking a small bite of his Chirashi.

Rio's smile tightened like she was being interrogated. "Uh, yeah, hopefully, Keisetsu University. My cousin went there."

"Keisetsu University? It does have an impressive exchange program," he commented, smiling politely. "Very hard to get into of course."

Rio's smile twitched. "Well, I'm really looking forward to the challenge!"

Mitsuko smiled fondly. "Yeah, you'll be able to do it." She turned to her parents quickly. "Rio's really great when it comes to writing and she even organised a charity event a few weeks ago."

The blonde shifted in her chair. "Yeah. Um, anyway, I have a few back-up plans if it doesn't work out I guess..."

"Well, it is already important to have a continuous plan, however..." The Principal replied lightly, looking at both of his children. "I do always find it disappointing when people settle for less."

Mitsuko looked down as she felt a burning surge of hot rage course through her.

"I wouldn't call it _settling_ , more as back-up," Rio replied, narrowing her gaze. "If you don't have that second blade, then you're practically handing over victory to your enemies."

"A very good point." The Principal's smile grew wirily.

Mom looked at her curiously. "What a ... _interesting_ way of phrasing it."

Rio gave them her widest grin. "That's Class E for you! We favour the alternative."

"Among other things, or so I've heard," Gakushuu replied flatly, speaking up for the first time in hours as he fixed Rio with a thin smile.

Rio narrowed her eyes a fraction at him and gripped her class a little too tightly. "Well." She took a long sip of her drink. "We are fans of crossdressing."

Mom spat out her drink and nearly choke. "I'm sorry, what?!"

A few people looked over at their table, a waitress was already hurrying over to dry the red stain on the white tablecloth.

Gakushuu scowled at her while Rio gave him a wink.

Mitsuko felt a rise of panic and tried to laugh it all off. "Oh, you're so funny, Rio!" She clapped her on the back, earning a frown. "W-we don't actually do that," she said quickly, looking at her parents nervously.

"Really?" The Principal looked sceptical.

"Yeah, it's just Nagisa mainly," Rio commented dryly, and then winced when she earned a kick from under the table from Mitsuko.

Mitsuko forced another laugh, scratching her arm anxiously. "Um, sorry, would you just excuse us for a moment, please?" She stood up. "I think we left something in the toilets."

Mom's gaze narrowed, wiping her lips with a napkin as she dismissed the waitress. "Don't take too long."

"We won't." Mitsuko grabbed Rio's arm and practically yanked her along.

"Will you cool it!" Rio hissed, pulling her arm free as they rounded a corner. "It isn't that serious."

"Yes, it is!" Mitsuko hissed once they were hidden around the doorway of the ladies' toilets. "You can't make those jokes in front of my parents, you can't make any kind of jokes in front of them. Period."

Rio grimaced, crossing her arms. "Okay, I'm sorry. I know it wasn't appropriate, but this whole thing is stressing me out." She sighed deeply, scowling. "I'm just... _nervous_ , okay. I feel like I'm being interrogated."

Mitsuko cringed, looking down. "I know, and I'm sorry. I just want things to go well."

"Yeah, I got that impression when you were practically kissing my ass in front of your family," Rio replied, frowning. "Which is a little bit of an overkill."

"What?" Mitsuko's brow creased. "What, are you talking about? I'm just complimenting you."

"You literally pretended I organised a charity event," Rio replied flatly.

"You did organise one," Mitsuko whispered.

Rio groaned, rolling her eyes. "It was a half-assed bake sale at a community centre, and I arrived thirty minutes late."

"You still made an effort," Mitsuko argued diplomatically.

"Mitsuko, I make more of an effort organising the Nagisa crossdressing appreciation club," Rio replied dryly.

"Because you're so good at it."

Rio sighed, shaking her head. "Listen, can you please just tell me why you are making all this effort. Your family doesn't even like me."

Mitsuko grimaced. "Which is why you're here to...well, okay, not _technically_ to earn their approval, but to show them that you don't care what they think."

"I already don't care what they think," Rio said impatiently. "You're the one who's clearly desperate to prove something."

She winced, looking away. "...I just want them to see how amazing you are." Mitsuko's brow creased. "That we're still...best friends."

Rio stared at her warily for a moment. "It's still a little bit much..."

"I know, I'm sorry," Mitsuko apologised, sighing. "I went overboard." She rubbed her arm, looking down.

"Don't get me wrong, I do love a good ass-kissing like the next person, but you don't need to force it." The blonde sighed again. "Listen, I am sorry for the jokes, that was a bad call." Rio smiled grimly. "I'll try to be less...me."

Mitsuko's stomach twisted. "But those are the best parts." She smiled faintly. "I'm sorry that this is making you feel like that. I'm just overreacting. You don't need to be less of anything."

Rio's smile strained further. "I'm pretty sure I do in this case." She shrugged. "But it's fine. Part of being a diplomat is navigating awkward situations like this, so it's practically training..."

Mitsuko smiled slightly. "I know they can be difficult, so I appreciate your patience," she told her. "Especially since my mom is being a bigger bitch than usual."

Rio smirked. "I'd barely noticed."

"Yeah, I know. She's just upset because she's finally forty." Mitsuko shrugged. "Gakushuu says that's when the menopause sets in."

"Sure." Rio rolled her eyes, smirking. "By the way, why does he keep glaring at me like I spat on him?"

"Um..." Mitsuko smiled hesitantly. "He's just more tense than usual. I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Rio's brow rose, as her smirk grew. "Right, well. I'll just keep ignoring him then." She looked over her shoulder. "Ready to go back?"

"Not really..." Mitsuko replied quietly. "But we should get it over with, and it is still technically my mom's birthday meal."

Rio snorted. "Yeah, she looks like she's having a blast."

Mitsuko smiled in amusement. "Yeah."

The other girl nudged her. "Come on then." She smiled brightly. "I wanna piss your dad off by ordering the most expensive dessert they have."

Mitsuko's face broke out into a grin. "Now that sounds like a plan I can get onboard with."


	17. What makes you happy?

"Are you ready?" Koro-sensei asked her as she stared at the mock test in front of her.

Mitsuko looked up and nodded. "One-hour right?"

Koro-sensei nodded. "The others will be done with their PE class after that." He chuckled. "You'll have to thank Mr Karasuma for letting me borrow you."

Mitsuko nodded again, looking down. "Okay..." She inhaled deeply and tried to relax. "Okay, I'm ready."

"All-righty then." Koro-sensei started the timer. "You may begin."

She sighed and turned over the page, reading over the extract in the English paper.

' _Touching the void'_

' _The two Japanese climbers had been following them closely—_ '

A loud crunching noise made her cringe and lookup. "What are...?"

Koro-sensei obnoxiously bit into a coconut. "Oh, don't mind me."

Mitsuko grimaced and went back to reading.

' _They had bivouacked separately, and there was—'_

Another crunch.

She pressed her pencil too hard on the paper, snapping the led.

_Seriously?!!_

Mitsuko glowered at him while he hummed innocently. "What are you doing?!"

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Test conditions."

"I can't focus if you're making all that noise!" she snapped.

His grin grew. "Exactly, which why this is practice." He placed the coconut on his desk and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "We can't be sure what trick the Principal may try to pull for finals," he told her, making her grimace. "Staying calm is one part of the technique, the next is drowning out everything else and focusing on the test."

Mitsuko's frown deepened, looking down at the question.

Koro-sensei gave another crunch but she tried to ignore him.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath and used her other hand to mime the actions of how she'd knit when making that scarf.

_Up_

_Over_

_Down_

_Up_

_Over_

_Down_

"Okay," she murmured, opening her eyes when she felt the tension leave her shoulders and tried to focus on a place where everything was calm and okay, making the rest of the world feel like a haze.

Mitsuko smiled slightly as she managed to stay calm.

Then Koro-sensei took out a power drill.

Her pen snapped in two.

"Don't mind me, now!" Koro-sensei yelled above the noise as he constructed a birdhouse at his desk.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

* * *

Mitsuko sighed, drumming her fingers against the desk while Koro-sensei marked her work. "So...did I fail?"

He chuckled. "No." He placed the test in front of her. "You didn't fail."

Her heart fluttered when she saw a 97/100 splashed in red ink on the test. A smile crept onto her face, picking up the sheet to eye it closer. "That's...that's pretty good."

"I'd say more than good." Koro-sensei laughed good-naturedly. "Well done."

Her cheeks flushed, looking down. "It's not an official test."

"But it is still testing conditions...well, with adjustments," Koro-sensei replied.

She sighed quietly, looking up. "Do you really think I'll be able to handle the real thing?"

"I think if you remain calm yes," Koro-sensei answered. "I have noticed you've seemed happier over these last few months, and your work in class has improved a lot as well." He hummed thoughtfully. "I might even _dare_ say they're connected!"

She rolled her eyes, trying not to smile. "Yeah, well, I'm just trying to relax more."

* * *

Sugaya groaned, laying his head on the kitchen table in defeat. "Just kill me, please..."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, glancing up from her textbook. The two of them had settled in his kitchen for a study session while his sister was watching TV in the other room.

"I do not have time for that." She sighed, sliding his notebook from under his head. "What are you stuck on?"

"The stupid circle thing," he replied testily, scowling when he lifted his head. 

"Ah, yes, the infamous circle-thing," she replied dryly, looking his work over. "I believe the correct term is, Pythagoras Theorem."

Sugaya sat up, resting his chin in his palm. "Yeah, that."

Mitsuko sighed again, laying the book flat. "It's just because you haven't memorized the formula properly." She circled the ratio with her pencil. "Remember, when calculating the Area you need to square the ratio and then times by pie."

He frowned, taking his book back to work it out. "And pie is?"

She sighed deeply. "3.14 approximately."

"Okay..." Sugaya's frown grew, muttering under his breath as he worked it out. "Okay....so it's 235?"

"235.5," she corrected, before shrugging. "But close enough."

He let out a deep breath. "Right..." He wrote it down. "I don't get how you can remember all this stuff."

She shrugged. "I just developed a good memory." A faint scowl slid onto her face. "My dad used to do this stupid game where he'd randomly fire twenty questions and me and my brother before dinner." She rolled her eyes. "Too many wrong answers and no dessert."

"Wow, sounds like a real party starter," Sugaya commented dryly.

"Yep." Mitsuko shrugged again. "Point is, you just need to find a way to memorise stuff that's easy for you."

"I guess," he replied, thinking it over. "I find it easier drawing stuff out," he added, sketching a pizza on the circle in the textbook. "I did use to do stuff like that before but my teacher kept giving commenting for me to stop." He shrugged. "They just saw it as graffiti."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed. "Yeah, well they sound like assholes."

He snorted. "What, like every other teacher at this school?"

Her lip curved upwards as she looked back at her work. "True."

"Speaking of assholes." Sugaya smiled in amusement. "How did the dinner with Nakamura and your family go?"

She let out a loud groaned, slumping in her seat. "Well, no one died."

He laughed. "That's already better than I expected."

"I know, right?" Mitsuko smiled grimly. "It went okay. It was awkward but...it went _okay_." She leaned back in the chair. "I think I made it clear that she is going to be sticking around whether they like it or not."

Sugaya raised an eyebrow. "And how is the whole actually asking her out progressing?"

She scowled, looking away. "Still in progress."

He rolled his eyes. "Dude. You need to get it over with."

"I know," she replied irritably. "But it's not easy, okay. I'll have to come out to her and...I don't know...what if she, you know...?" She shrank away slightly, sighing. "What if she doesn't feel the same way?" Mitsuko rested her head on the table. "I'm just scared..."

He stayed silent for a while. "Listen..." he fumbled over his words. "Even if she doesn't like you, it's not the end of the world." Sugaya was quiet for a long moment. "Sometimes feelings, you know...fade."

Mitsuko wrapped her arms around herself. "Not these feelings." She closed her eyes and sighed. "You don't understand. It's different." She turned her head to look at him properly. "I used to think I was a pervert for liking girls, but Rio...she makes me feel like it's okay." She smiled slightly. "And when I'm around her everything's perfect and I don't feel like..." The smile wavered. "It sounds stupid, but I just want to be happy."

Sugaya stared at her with a faintly troubled look. "She's not the only thing that makes you happy, right?"

"What?" Mitsuko's brow creased.

He shrugged. "I just mean that—it just sounds a little, you know, unhealthy if you're relying solely on her to make you happy. Like it's kind of messed up."

Her stomach twisted, sitting up straight. "It's not messed up." She grew on alert, eyeing him warily. "Why would you say that?"

Sugaya raised his hands, placating. "I'm not saying it like—look, I just don't think it's a good idea to be dependent on her like that. It isn't fair on Nakamura—"

"What the hell do you know?" She stood up, narrowing her gaze at him.

"Dude, just calm down for a sec." His brows knitted into a frown. "You don't need to snap at me."

"Just..." Mitsuko stopped herself from hurling back something hurtful, noticing the way her hands had curled into fists and Sugaya's earnest look. "...Just." Her gaze shifted, forcing herself to relax. "What are you talking about?"

Sugaya sighed, looking at her apprehensively. "Look, I'm not trying to be a jerk. Okay, but..." He cringed. "You kind of sound a little.... obsessed sometimes when you talk about Nakamura like that."

She bristled. "I'm not _obsessed_."

"Okay, wrong word," Sugaya ran a hand over his face. "Look, all I'm saying is that it just raises a lot of red flags, okay so just be careful. You don't need to be with Nakamura to be happy."

Mitsuko scowled, looking away. "I know that..."

"...Right, sure."

There was an uneasy silence that settled between them.

She sighed quietly, feeling some guilt nestle in her stomach. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Sugaya looked at her warily for a moment, before he half-shrugged. "Look, I know I suck at this but just think about what I said."

"Yeah, sure." She nodded, smiling. "I will."

_That was a lie._

* * *

Finals came like as if they'd emerged from a blur, and it was terrifying.

"Okay, Class!" Koro-sensei exclaimed brightly, moving at Mach 20, creating his doubles. "We're coming back with a vengeance this time s let's give it our all!" He chuckled. "Especially with my tentacles on the line! Don't let a prize like this be passed up, children."

Mitsuko let out a deep breath, trying to control her nerves. "Yeah, we heard you the first dozen times!"

Rio grinned, looking over her shoulder. "Hey, it does make things more interesting."

Nagisa smiled. "And it's one hell of an incentive." His smile grew encouraging. "If we all pull together it could really give us the advantage we need."

"Exactly!" Koro-sensei encouraged. "Channel that bloodlust, children, and sharpen that second blade!"

Mitsuko felt her nerves subdued a little, starting to smile.

_I can do this._

Her good mood lasted throughout the rest of the morning, feeling a pleasant buzz.

"Hey, check this out." Sugaya nudged her shoulder during their break before next period.

Mitsuko looked over and then laughed when she saw the detailed illustration of a pie on the answer sheet. "Nice job."

He grinned, lowering the sheet. "Hopefully the teacher marking it will appreciate its quality."

"If not just charge him for the commission," she replied, smirking.

"One tentacle for each top score," Nagisa repeated.

Mitsuko glanced over at Nagisa who was gathered around with Kayano and Okuda at Sugino's desk.

"Yeah!" Okuda said excitedly. "We can do this!"

"Since when are you ever this fired up, Okuda-san?" Karma asked curiously from the back of the class.

Okuda smiled. "Well, since science is my one strong suit, I might finally be able to help everyone out!"

"We have our share of high-scoring students here!" Kayano chimed in. "Acing one subject each isn't that far-fetched!"

Mitsuko smiled fondly, earning a nudge from Sugaya. "What?" Her smile turned to a sheepish scowl when she saw him smirk.

Just then Sugino's phone started buzzing.

"Shindo?" Sugino sounded confused when he saw the caller ID.

"Hello?" He answered the call. "Hey, what's up? Haven't seen you since the tournament."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow but didn't pay the conversation much head, glancing back at Sugaya. "So, I take it you've finally memorised the formula."

Sugaya grinned. "Pretty much." Then he laughed nervously. "Um, but I'm still kind of confused over the whole calculus thing. The formula you mentioned was a little too complicated."

She shrugged. "Yeah, Koro-sensei did show me a simpler way but I'm not too sure about it..."

The conversation trailed off when she heard Shindo's voice grow louder when Sugino put him on speaker.

"....is in the conference room for an independent study session."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, looking over. "Huh?"

"Their leaders are the pride of Kunigigaoka: a set of geniuses known as the Big Five."

Her eyes widened.

_Oh, shit, what are they planning now?!_

Sugaya watched her with a frown when she stood up and wandered over to Sugino's desk.

"Coming in at Second place on midterms!" Suddenly the voice on the phone changed to something deeper and high energy.

"What the...?" Mitsuko raised an eyebrow, sharing a confused look with Nagisa.

"Teppei Araki!"

Mitsuko jerked back in surprise. "Uh?"

Sugaya frowned, standing next to her. "Is that Shindo speaking?" he whispered.

She shrugged warily. "I think so, but he sounds like he got possessed by a Pro-wrestler announcer."

"REN SAKIKABARA!!"

Mitsuko and few of the others jumped at the sudden yell again. "What is he doing?"

"Yeah, who is actually speaking right now?" Kayano asked.

"Um..." Nagisa smiled sheepishly. "I think it's Shindo still."

"He sounds like he's on steroids," Karma remarked dryly.

"Well he is a baseball player," Mitsuko commented just as dry.

"Biology Club president KOYAMA NATSUHIKO!!"

"Ah, my ears." Okuda covered her ears.

Mitsuko pinched the bridge of her nose. "What is he even doing?" she whispered.

"I mean, should we say something?" Sugaya questioned in a hushed tone.

"Uh..." Sugino frowned.

"...Speaker of the student council Seo Tomoya!"

"I-Is that you doing these introductions?" Sugino finally asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, uh..." Shindo's voice croaked from nerves. "I've always wanted to try my hand at announcing..."

There was a short pause as the others exchanged looks before shrugging.

"Well, go on then," Mitsuko said, sighing.

Shindo quickly cleared his throat.

"And reigning over all these from the very top..." Shindo said, a little subdued. "In first place!" Shindo regained his vigour. "Coming in first on the national mock exams with his perfect mastery of all subjects, the man with leadership in his genes."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow.

"Student council president Asano Gakushuu!"

"The Principal's only son..." Sugino said warily, glancing at Mitsuko who frowned.

"Wait, he's your brother right?" Kayano asked.

Mitsuko frowned, crossing her arms. "Well, the name and looks are _kind of_ a give-away, Kayano."

Kayano gave a sheepish laugh. "Heh. Sorry, but you could have been cousins. Right?"

Mitsuko just shrugged, growing uneasy. "Fair enough."

"They've got popularity and top scores," Shindo continued on without prompting. "The charisma that brings together the proud A-Class go-getters, along with his innate leadership qualities. Asano, with his perfect knowledge of every subject."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Are you really kissing my brother's ass for free, Shindo, or is he paying you?"

Karma chuckled, curling his lips into a smirk. "Good point actually."

"Hey!" Shindo choked from the other end of the line. "I'm just outlining his qualities!"

"Right." Mitsuko sighed, shaking her head. "Sure..."

The baseball captain cleared his throat again. "And the others, with their own specializations. Together, they form the Big Five." E-Class were gathered around the phone. "They're looking to keep you from making it back to the main campus," he warned them. "If this keeps up..."

Mitsuko's brow creased, looking away.

_That doesn't apply to me though..._

Her earlier happiness was dampened when she started to feel sick.

_That doesn't make it better._

"Thanks for looking out for us, Shindo," Sugino said warmly.He looked at his classmates and then at the phone. "But it's all right. Right now our goal isn't to get out of the E Class." The others were smiling. "Still, to meet the goal we do have, we will need to beat the A-Class on points. Watch us, okay? We'll put up a real fight!"

Mitsuko's shifted uncomfortably but forced a smile when Rio looked her way.

 _You'll be back in A-Class soon,_ her brother's words echoed.

She tried not to think about it, but it was near impossible now. Finals were here and there was no avoiding it now.

_But the Principal was probably lying about taking me back, though...was that good or bad?_

_Do I even want to go back now?_

"Knock yourself out," Shindo sounded amused. "The E Class fight isn't my problem."

"Thanks, man." Sugino then ended the call. "Well, it was nice of him to warn us."

"Yeah, talk about a change of heart," Fuwa commented.

"Yeah, you bet we'll show them." Okano smiled, placing her hand on her hips. "Those jerks won't know what hit 'em!"

Mitsuko's smile wavered quickly, trying not to frown.

"Is he really first in _every_ subject, Mitsuko?" Kayano asked, looking at her in surprise.

"Oh..." Mitsuko noticed the others looking at her as well. "Um, yeah, he is." She folded her arms, burying her discomfort. "Say what you want, but the Big Five are all pretty amazing academically..."

"Personality-wise not so much," Rio commented, rolling her eyes.

Mitsuko swallowed, feeling twitchy. "Ren's not so bad..."

" _Ren_?" Karma raised an eyebrow.

She scowled. "He's a friend."

"And, a narcissist," Rio chimed.

Mitsuko looked annoyed. "Rio..."

"What? It's true." Rio shrugged.

She sighed, shaking her head. "Stop it."

"So is your brother as bad as the Principal?" Okuda asked quietly.

Mitsuko tensed. "Of course not!" she snapped, catching the others by surprise. "Uh..." She grimaced. "Sorry," she apologized. "Gakushuu isn't that bad once you get to know him—I guess I'm biased because we're twins but...he can be nice."

That didn't seem to reassure her classmates.

"Define, _nice_?" Maehara asked warily. "Because Seo and Araki definitely weren't _nice_ when they kicked my ass."

"Yeah, well they've always been jerks." She cringed, looking away. "Look, Gakushuu isn't as bad as you think!" she insisted. "He's really hard-working and a really great leader." Her gaze shifted back to her classmates. "But when he sets his mind on a goal, he always wins..."

Hara scoffed. "Well, not this time."

Rio grinned. "Yeah, I'm bagging me a tentacle whether those pompous asses like it or not."

Isogai smiled. "Yeah, we'll give them a fight."

Mitsuko frowned still, ignoring the concerned look Rio was shooting her. "Yeah, sure..."

"Hey, Kataoka, mind helping me with Math?" Maehara asked.

Kataoka nodded. "Yeah, sure, no problem."

"I can help out too!" Ritsu told them, smiling from her screen. "Since I won't be able to do the test with you."

Fuwa grinned. "Well, I do need help with Algebra." 

The others started chatting again, growing more excited.

Mitsuko's discomfort was growing to borderline unbearable, feeling like she actually would be sick, which was mortifying.

She stepped back, avoiding Sugaya's questioning look when she started to back away while the others were talking. Ready to make a run for it to the toilets.

"Hey." Sugaya placed a hand on her shoulder, making her freeze. "You okay?"

Mitsuko bit down hard on her tongue and nodded. "...Yeah."

His brow furrowed, edging back with her away from the others. "It's okay if you don't like the whole going head-to-head with Class A..." He shrugged. "I mean, he's still your brother."

She chewed her bottom lip anxiously, trying to shrug it off. "It's not like it's personal," she replied. "It's just us against them. I know that and he knows that. It's fine."

Sugaya gave her his typical, 'are you sure?' look he often gave. "You sure?"

" _Yes_." Her voice took on an edge, moving back slightly. "It's not like there's any way of avoiding it anyway..." She frowned briefly but brushed it off, trying to regain her focus. "Besides, he's tired of seeing me fail and I fully intend to piss the Principal off by actually proving him wrong." She smiled crookedly. "So you better memorise those formulas or you'll get an ass-kicking from me."

Sugaya's smiled returned in full amusement, arching an eyebrow. "You know you can get arrested for making threats like that."

Her smile grew, punching his arm lightly. "No evidence, no crime."


	18. You Worry Too Much

Mitsuko's gaze scanned the text on the workbook while her hand wrote without pause. There was a timer in front of her to keep track of her progress; max time one minute reading each question thoroughly then—

Her phone buzzed when Ritsu popped on the screen. "Mitsuko!!"

She stopped writing and frowned. "Ritsu?"

The AI was bouncing around excitedly. "Did you hear what happened?!"

"Um, no." Mitsuko raised an eyebrow.

Ritsu squealed, conjuring up a cup of tea. "Kayano told me!" she began to explain. "So, you know how—"

Then Rio started calling.

"Hey, hold that thought," Mitsuko interrupted.

Ritsu spilled her tea when she stood up. "Hey, Wait—"

She put her on hold and accepted Rio call. "Hey?"

"Okay, so don't get mad," Rio said quickly.

Mitsuko frowned. "What?"

There was a loud sigh. "Look...you know how I went with Isogai and the others to the Main Campus library?"

Her eyes narrowed. " _Yes_?"

There was a nervous laugh. "Well..."

* * *

Mitsuko banged on her brother's bedroom door. "Gakushuu! I know you're in there!" She placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the door.

A few seconds of silence past before she heard a faint sigh and then footsteps before the door opened. "What?" he replied testily, still dressed in his school shirt and tie like it was a second skin. "I'm busy."

She barged into his room without so much of an invite. "Rio called," she said, accusingly. "Apparently you emailed Isogai the terms to you ' _friendly_ ' class bet?!" Her hands curled into a fist. "A bet which apparently involves enslaving Class E?"

Gakushuu frowned briefly before he rolled his eyes. "Oh, so that's what this is about." He closed the door and sighed. "I was planning on telling you tomorrow when everything was finalized." He walked over and shrugged. "I don't see why you're worried; the bet doesn't involve you." He raised a brow. "You're my sister."

She felt a flare of irritation. "That doesn't make it better, Gakushuu." She crossed her arms, leveling him with a look. "Why are you doing this? Class E hasn't—"

His gaze narrowed. "I wouldn't need to do this if you were just honest with me."

Mitsuko frowned, inching back slightly. "What?"

"I know the Principal is hiding something, and I know whatever shady operation he has running, all links back to E Class," her brother said coldly, crossing his arms. "But what I can't understand is why _you_ won't tell me."

She felt a prick of apprehension, looking away. "Gakushuu..."

"Is he blackmailing you?" he pressed on. "Is that it?"

"What? No," she replied quickly, frowning again. "I haven't told you anything because there's nothing to tell."

His expression tightened and became closed off. "So, that's it then?" He uncrossed his arms and placed them on his hips. "You're really on his side now?"

"What?" She nearly did a double-take, convinced she'd misheard. "Did you hit your head and lose a few brain cells? Like hell, I'd be on the Principal's side."

Gakushuu half shrugged, narrowing his gaze. "Well you seem perfectly happy keeping his secrets," he replied lightly. "In fact, you seem comfortable with keeping _all sorts_ of secrets from me lately."

Mitsuko's stomach lurched. "I..."

 _Fix this. Fix this!_ A voice kept screaming in her head.

He shook his head, giving her a look that made her cringe. "We're meant to be in this together, remember?"

"Then why is it every time you say 'us', you just mean yourself?" She shot back. "Because if you're going to give me shit for lying, then how about you actually admit that you just want to take dad down for yourself while I cheer you on!"

He looked slightly taken aback by the outburst, scowling. 

"Whether you want to believe it or not. I'm doing what's necessary for the both of us." Anger ticked across his face. "And your reaction is exactly why I didn't tell you; you've actually deluded yourself into thinking you owe those degenerates a thing."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump. "They're my _friends_ , Gakushuu." Her voice wavered a little. "And you still did this behind my back, even after knowing how much Rio means to me."

Asano rolled his eyes. "Because E Class isn't your problem," he replied insistently, sparking her temper. "After finals, you're going to get back into A-Class."

She wanted to bash her head against the wall. "You don't know that for sure!"

His jaw tightened. "Well, maybe if you focussed _less_ on Nakamura and more on—

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want to go back!" she finally snapped.

Gakushuu froze, showing a crack in composer for just a second, but just long enough. 

"What...?" His voice was quiet and cold around the edges. "What are you talking about?"

_Oh, shit._

Ice trailed down her spine when she realized what she'd done.

"I just feel..." She hardened her resolve and tried to explain herself. "That maybe, I...maybe I'm better in E Class."

"... _Better_ in E Class?" he repeated slowly, staring at her incredulously. 

Mitsuko clenched her hands tightly. "I'm _happy,_ Gaku-nii, more than I've been in a long time."

"Don't be ridiculous, you were happy in A-Class as well," he told her firmly. "Just because you like Nakamura doesn't mean you have to ruin the rest of your life," he continued on somewhat urgently. "She's one of many distractions that will come and go."

She winced. "She isn't a distraction..."

" _Yes_ , she is," Gakushuu argued, looking at her pointedly. "They're all a distraction," he said bitterly, as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Have you even thought about the consequences? You're throwing away success for something which won't last past the year."

Mitsuko felt a chill, wrapping her arms around herself. "I could still be successful in E Class..."

"Not if you let them drag you down," he replied, stepping closer. 

"Gakushuu..."

"They are going to ruin everything, why can't you see that?" he stressed, getting more frustrated. "I'm trying to help you, Mitsuko, but I can't do that if you're going to ignore me and keep making these mistakes."

Her eyes watered, feeling a slither of doubt curl its way upwards.

She started to feel her resolve waver, feeling her eyes sting, as it became more tempting to just believe that everything he was saying was true and maybe was...

But, it couldn't be because Rio made everything different, and even if he was right she wasn't going to give up Rio for anything. 

"Gaku-nii," she said quietly, taking a deep breath. "I love you, but you can't just keep trying to force me to make the choices _you_ want."

His brow furrowed. "I'm not _forcing_ you to do anything." His tone defensive. "I'm trying to protect you from making a mistake."

She felt a sting of anger. "I'm not stupid, I can make my own decisions..."

He hesitated for a second, just a second, but long enough to make her feel like he'd punched her in the gut. "I know you aren't stupid."

And, it was something she'd tried to ignore for a long time even when it had been shoved in her face by the Principal more times than she could count. Gakushuu was the bright star that made everything duller in comparison, that was the way things had always been. 

It didn't make it hurt any less, but maybe she really had outdone herself in pretending that maybe, just maybe, Gakushuu considered her something like an equal? That he saw her more than just his little sister that always needed _his_ protection or _his_ help just to stand upright or keep up. 

It was enough to make her want to scream at him. 

Instead, she shook her head and pushed her tears back so they wouldn't show. "Maybe you're right, and I am making a mistake," she said quietly. "But, that doesn't give you the right to try to use E Class as collateral damage in your and dad's pissing contest."

The coldness crept back in his eyes. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he replied evenly. "But I'm not compromising the contract drawn up."

Mitsuko kept her anger in check, gritting her teeth. He was being insufferable to the point she wanted to hit him hard enough to knock some sense back into him, but he was near impossible to argue with when he was like this, so convinced he was right.

_Maybe he is?_

_Just shut up!_

"Fine." She took a deep breath and then glared at him. "Then don't be surprised when it all blows in your face."

Then she shoved passed him and left the room before he could get the last word in.

* * *

Her bad mood filtered out even when she was trying her best to hide it. She kept drumming her fingers on her desk, lacking impatient.

Sugaya and Rio seemed to catch on quickly, the two of them both exchanging pointed looks during lunch.

Mitsuko shifted in her seat, growing more restless while the others talked about the recent events and the bet made.

Karma put down his book. "Anyway, what's the plan?" he asked. "You know those A Class goons have something up their sleeves."

Okajima turned around. "Don't worry so much, Karma," he replied. "What more does E Class even have to lose?"

She raised an eyebrow, tuning back into the conversation.

Kurahashi stood up, smiling. "If we win, we can make them do anything!" She grinned excitedly. "I'd like them to let us use the cafeteria!"

Mitsuko frowned. "Oh, come, that's way too small."

The others looked over in interest.

Karma smirked. "Wait, are you actually getting behind this, Mitsuko?"

She scowled, straightening up. "I just don't want my brother's idiot friends gloating again; it's embarrassing." She gave a small shrug. "And I'm just saying that if we want to _really_ teach them a lesson then we need to aim high."

Koro-sensei chuckled. "I completely agree, Mitsuko." He raised a pamphlet to view. "I have an idea regarding that." He moved to the front of the class. "What if we make them hand _this_ over?" 

"The school pamphlet?" Rio said.

Koro-sensei flipped it to show the back, revealing the exclusive vacation awarded to the top-performing class.

The students gasped.

Mitsuko slowly smiled, already feeling her mood brighten as a newfound bloodlust started to take over. "Oh, that's _perfect._ "

* * *

Today was the day.

The Main Campus building seemed more imposing than usual when she stared up at it.

Mitsuko swallowed, holding her pencil case too tight.

"Hey." Rio gently placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump a little. "It'll be okay." She smiled warmly when Mitsuko turned her head slightly."You've got this."

Mitsuko smiled feebly, nodding. "Yeah..."

Rio squeezed her shoulder reassuringly before stepping in front of her. "I'm serious." She smirked. "This test is just another target; play to kill, okay?"

Mitsuko let out a deep breath and then inhaled deeply, staying calm. "Channel that bloodlust." She smiled crookedly. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Hey, guys, we need to hurry or we're gonna be late," Nagisa called from further ahead as the rest of Class E started to file into the school.

Rio waved her hand dismissively, twirling her pen as she turned around. "Yeah, yeah, we're coming."

Mitsuko smiled fondly and followed the rest of her classmates inside.

The first round of tests was English.

*******

Mitsuko flinched when the first question hit like a windblast. She gritted her teeth and tightened her hold her pen as she re-read the question.

If they were taking on the test like they were a target, then the whole thing felt like an arena battle.

She gulped, feeling like she was facing a fifty-foot monster.

A familiar bad taste filled her mouth.

_Oh, crap._

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, feeling like she really had been dropped head-first into a gladiator battle like the others.

_It's literally only question one, come on!!_

_Gakushuu was probably already—_

_No, don't think about that._

Mitsuko's chest constricted, making it hard to breathe.

_The Principal was probably beside himself already imagining how much we're suffering..._

  
Mitsuko opened her eyes when she felt her temper flare.

_Just...It's not a test, it's a mission._

She loosened her hold on her pencil and glanced at the others who were focussed.

_I just need to focus on what I'm doing, and if I can block out Koro-sensei's DIY projects or coconut eating, I can focus on this._

Her gaze shifted back to her test, imagining her pencil like a blade.

_There is no way in hell I am giving dad the satisfaction of seeing me losing again, and Gakushuu does not get to think I'm stupid...I'm not stupid._

She gritted her teeth and took a bold strike at the question, starting to interpret the piece of literature.

_Come on, like seriously? I spent so much time reading these moldy-ass books I should have this crap memorized by now?!_

Her dark eyes narrowed, as her mind moved faster than her hand.

_And, I swear, I did not sit through Salinger's angst bullshit or Burgess twisted mind-set to miss out on getting top scores!!_

Before she even realized the whole paper was littered with answers as she turned the page.

Mitsuko felt a thrill of something she hadn't felt in months and maybe years, feeling almost giddy as she tapped her foot against the chair leg.

_I can do this. I can actually do this! Holy crap, the octopus was actually right!_

She started to smile, writing faster.

_If you just cut out most of the long complicated theory, the simpler version really is the way to go._

_As ansty as Salinger's writing was, once you actually start to understand the character, the memorisation of the quotes actually came pretty easy. I mean, I'm still questioning the octopus's taste but he has a point about actually trying to really empathise what—Oh, wait, shit, is that a spelling mistake?! Damn it._

Her smile dropped as she hastily made the correction.

She sighed, reading through the next question.

_Wait, now where was I?_

Her brow furrowed as she wracked her brains.

_Oh, yeah._

Her smile returned as she finished off the final answer.

_Koro-sensei, your bogus-ass qualification might just actually be legitimate._

She drew a tiny small octopus on the corner of the page before closing the test.

* * *

By the end of the two days of testing, Mitsuko felt like she'd run a marathon, nearly falling asleep when she collapsed on her bed.

"I've never wanted sleep so much in my life," she mumbled into her pillow.

Ritsu popped up on her phone, grinning. "So, how do you think it went?"

Mitsuko kept her face buried in her pillow a little while longer before glancing at Ritsu from the corner of her eye. "I think I at least did better than mid-terms." She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. "But...Yeah, I actually think I did pretty good." She smiled briefly. "Which is weird..."

"It's not weird to believe in yourself," Ritsu reassured brightly.

Mitsuko smiled slightly. "I swear sometimes you're like a walking Wikipedia of inspirational quotes."

The AI's face scrunched up into a scowl. "There's nothing wrong with being positive!" She huffed, laying back on an artificial lounge chair. "Honestly speaking I think sometimes people like to only think about the worst that can happen."

"Huh?" Mitsuko frowned, looking over.

Ritsu's smile softly, closing her eyes as she got comfortable. "I know you're anxious about the test results, but it's okay to take a moment to hope for the best while you wait."

"It's not always that simple, Ritsu..." She grimaced, wondering what Gakushuu was doing and if he was worrying as much as her.

_Not likely...What does he have to worry about?_

Mitsuko winced a little as soon as she thought that because of Gakushuu worried, he was higher than all of them, that was a lot of pressure and it wasn't like he ever asked for help...well at least he hadn't in a long time.

_He probably worries more than me..._

"I can't really remember a time I wasn't anxious," she said to herself quietly, staring up at a moth which was flying around the bedroom light. "I mean it isn't 24/7 but..." She swallowed and quickly shrugged it off. " _Anyway_ , the bottom-line is emotions are messy."

The Ai heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess I wouldn't know...maybe I will one day when my emotional functions have developed more."

Mitsuko snorted, feeling the creases on her forehead smooth out as she closed her eyes. "Is that the point where you and the other machines will kill all humans?"

Ritsu giggled. "No." She smiled in amusement, as the two of them settled into a comfortable silence. "Hostile takeovers became unnecessary when the smartphone became globalized."

Mitsuko's eyes popped open. "Wait, what?"

* * *

The results were in.

"That's three in one!" Fuwa yelled, marking up the final scores on the board.

Mitsuko's mouth was hanging open for a good second before her classmate's cheering finally knocked her back to reality.

_They had... They'd actually won the bet!_

She blinked quickly and looked back at her own test scores, feeling her shock turn to complete joy when she marked up her score.

_And...oh....OH!!_   
  


A large smile she didn't think she was actually capable off spread across her face.

She'd ranked 8th in the year.

_I'm back in the top ten!!_

Her stomach did a flip when she felt a skin tingle pleasantly like she'd been hit with a bolt of energy.

_This was...this was..._

"Whoa, holy crap," Sugaya exclaimed, looking over her shoulder. "Nice!"

"Wait, what did you get?!" Rio rushed over, sliding over Sugino's desk.

"Nakamura!" the baseball lover objected.

Rio grinned and looked over the scores. "I knew you were still a genius." Her smile grew even larger as she scrutinized the scores. "You really went in for the kill with this one."

Mitsuko went bright red, snatching her scores back. "I just...focussed." She shrugged. "Which wasn't hard considering I had to spend weeks blocking out Koro-sensei's trying his hand at woodshop."

Sugaya raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah, what did he do with all those birdhouses in the end."

"They're literally scattered around the mountain," Mitsuko replied dryly. "At one point he practically built a mini-mansion so we should expect some increase in the local bird population this year."

Rio chuckled, leaning against the desk. "Well, good job on bagging the points for overall scores."

"Yeah, Kataoka and Takebayashi both ranked 7th so you guys are top of the class," Sugaya said, looking over at Takebayashi and Kataoka who were being congratulated by the others.

Mitsuko smiled faintly. "Well, I'm not the one who beat Gakushuu in English."

Rio smirked. "Yeah...he's probably going to hate me even more for that." She flipped her hair back. "Do me a favour and make sure to rub it in."

Mitsuko's smile grew. "I'm pretty sure the Island trip will be payback enough."

"Oh, yeah!" Sugaya grinned. "Those jerks are gonna have to pay up!"

"It's gonna be so sweet!" Okajima cheered. "The sun, the babes..." He started to drool.

Kayano smiled in amusement. "I wonder how A-Class is handling it?"

Mitsuko felt her amusement dwindle slightly. "Probably not well..."

_Gakushuu will be livid..._

"Well, that's what they get for making bets they can't deliver on," Maehara said, smiling widely.

Mitsuko's smile wavered, looking down when she recalled the argument with her brother.

_He wasn't going to handle this failure well and the Principal..._

Her smile faded entirely, starting to feel a chill the longer she really thought about it as the satisfaction of winning started to turn into guilt. 


	19. You're just not good enough

Mitsuko walked slowly as the students started to file out of the assembly hall; the student council was always the last ones out, and sure enough, she saw her brother lingering near the stage with his friends close by and a few of the other class representatives gathering leftover school pamphlets.

She took a deep breath before she cut her way through the other students to make her way over. "Excuse me," she said firmly when a few students didn't budge easily. "Coming through here." She elbowed someone in the ribs. "A little space please!"

Gakushuu's gaze narrowed when he saw her, making her insides twist a little.

Mitsuko hardened her resolve and forced herself to keep walking over, trying to channel the confidence and charm Bitch-sensei had spent months drilling into her. "Gakushuu," she said curtly, placing her hands on her hips when she stopped in front of him. "Hi."

Gakushuu's lips set in a thin line.

Ren looked oddly nervous, looking back and forth between her and Gakushuu. "Uh..." He smiled a little forcefully. "Hey, Mitsuko, what's up?"

Seo's gaze narrowed resentfully. "What do you want?"

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at him briefly before looking back at her brother. "I need to talk to you." She glanced at the other students who were gawking. "Privately." Her gaze drifted back to her brother, allowing her composer to drop a little. "Please?"

Her brother looked like he'd swallowed a lemon.

Then Koyama huffed loudly, adjusting his glasses. "Can't you see we're busy?"

"Yeah," Seo sneered. "Don't go thinking just because of some fluke you can—"

"Seo, Koyama," Gakushuu interrupted coldly, making the two boys tense. "I don't believe my sister was talking to either of you." The glare he gave the two of them was chilly. "Go on ahead. All of you." He turned back to Mitsuko. "I'll meet you back in class."

Mitsuko felt a slow smile start to spread on her face when she saw Koyama and Seo hurry off with the others.

Ren nudged her shoulder as he passed, winking. "Good luck."

She raised an eyebrow at him while Gakushuu scowled. "You better make it quick," he said evenly, walking passed her towards the exit.

Mitsuko sighed, walking alongside him. "I'm not here to say I told you so if that's what you're worried about," she said quietly, trying not to glance up at the cameras watching them. "Come on." She gently tugged his wrist along as they stepped outside, making his scowl worsen. "I just want to talk."

It was a miracle he didn't try to yank his arm away and storm off, but despite how tense he looked, he seemed willing to listen for once and followed her around a corner where the cameras couldn't see.

He pulled his arm away and crossed his arms when they were safely around the corner. "Well?"

Mitsuko frowned, eyeing him worriedly. "How was dad?"

He grimaced. "How do you _think_ he was?"

She felt a flare of guilt, nodding. "Right..." She sighed, looking around warily. "Well..." Mitsuko forced herself to take a deep breath and think her words over. "I'm still mad about what you tried to do to E Class, even if you think it was justified."

His eyes were narrowed. "I wouldn't have had to do it in the first place if you were just honest with me."

Mitsuko sighed quietly, shifting on the spot. "Look, I don't want to keep secrets from you, but you make it hard not too sometimes," she said quietly. "I want to take the Principal down just as much as you but trying to blackmail him like this isn't going to work, not now at least," she reasoned. "You need to be patient, not pulling stunts like this that draw attention to it, you're just giving him the upper hand." She smiled faintly while Gakushuu stayed quiet, looking away while she spoke. "I promise I'll tell you everything by March but right now...I just can't, Gaku-nii."

Her brother scrutinized her for a long moment, hesitating. "...E Class can enjoy this victory while it lasts," he said evenly. "But I will crush them come second term, and you can choose to stay in the gutter with them, or you can join me in A-Class where you belong." He took a step forward, softening his glare. "You shouldn't throw your entire future away on a girl, Mitsuko."

"She's not the only reason," Mitsuko replied softly. "Can we just..." She sighed tiredly, looking at him pleadingly. "Can we not argue about this, not now."

Gakushuu paused, frowning faintly. "...I'm just concerned."

"I know," she mumbled, wishing things could be easier. "Look, you know I hate it when you give me the silent treatment. You're my brother, I don't want us to fight..."

"...You're the one being stubborn," Gakushuu muttered, softening his glare.

She almost laughed. "You're worse." A small smile crept onto her face. "Look, I miss us being in the same class as well, but Rio...she's really important to me, Gaku-nii, and I really want to make things work between her and me."

"Ugh...your investment in this sappy romance is revolting." Gakushuu looked like he'd swallowed something awful.

Her smile grew, starting to feel more at ease. "You'll know what it's like one day."

He looked more disgusted. "Not if I can help it," he replied dryly. "Regardless, I'm not changing my mind on you transferring to A-Class, but...there's no point in losing our tempers over it."

It was as good as a compromise she'd get for now.

"Okay, fine." Mitsuko sighed, nodding. "But I don't think the Principal will be that eager to bring me back to A-Class anyway...you know what he's like. Takebayashi and Kataoka outranked me."

"You still got in the top ten," he said firmly. "I'm going to insist."

"Yeah, and I bet he'll just love that," Mitsuko muttered, sighing. "He only brings one student every year and it's always the highest-ranking student in the class. He'll just turn this into another lesson on failure to reach the top."

"You didn't fail," he snapped defensively, making her frown. "Eighth place is..." He faltered as if he'd suddenly realized what he was saying. "It's...good."

_Not good enough._

"You really think so?" she replied warily.

"Yes," he said with some difficulty like it was a fight just to get the words out. "You did well and I'm very..." He started to look constipated. "...Proud."

_Proud?_

Mitsuko's eyes widened, blinking in disbelief. "Did you just say you were... _proud_ of me?"

He hadn't said that since they were twelve.

His expression twisted into a scowl. "I just mean it was a satisfactory performance considering your setbacks."

She stared at him for a long while, processing it. "Oh..." Her smile started to return, feeling a swell of warmth. "Well, I'm proud of you too, Gakushuu."

Gakushuu grimaced, looking away. "Yes, well, just don't become complacent," he told her. "This was the only first term. You'll need to study harder if you want to do better next time."

"Of course." She smiled fondly, feeling relief.

He eyed her briefly before sighing quietly. "I'm going to the library in the city after school. You can come if you're not too busy with those delinquents."

Her smile grew, nudging him. "Well, if you're that desperate for company." Her smile grew crooked. "Why not?"

His gaze narrowed warningly. "You're not funny."

She laughed, stepping around him. "Well, I'm still funnier than you."

* * *

Isogai looked determined when he faced them at the front of the classroom. "Okay, guys, Koro-sensei is out so now's the best time to discuss the Island Operation."

Mimura raised his hand. "Uh, can we change the name?"

"Yeah, how about Assassination Island time!?" Fuwa suggested.

Isogai rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, well, I don't really think the name is all that import—"

"No, it's too obvious," Ritsu commented, frowning as she rubbed her chin. "How about...Operation Tentacles?!"

"Uh, it's a little lackluster," Sugaya commented.

Mitsuko groaned. "Guys, seriously, we're getting way off topic here!"

"But codenames for the mission are important, Mitsuko," Kurahashi argued.

Isogai cleared his throat. "Anyway!" he tried to regain control of the situation. "Each person is going to have a role to play."

Kataoka stood up and held up some sheets. "I've made some role assignment sheets for each one of you to look at." She started to hand them out. "It's still only got limited details just in case it falls in the wrong hands, but the basics are there."

Mitsuko looked over her sheet when she received it.

_Strategy Support_

"Huh." She turned around to look at Sugaya's. "What did you get?"

"Art and Flyboards?" Sugaya looked confused by the last part. "Not sure on the last one but the art part should be cool."

She hummed, looking over her role with interest. "Yeah."

* * *

"Can we please remember that physics is still a thing?" Mitsuko scowled in frustration as she sat at the kitchen table with Takebayashi, Okuda, Kataoka, and Karma.

Okuda placed the freshly baked cookies on the kitchen table of her home and smiled shyly. "I guess it all comes down to simplifying it so everyone can follow it."

Karma rocked back and forth on the chair. "They'll be fine once we give them markers. If everyone just stands exactly where we put them, it'll be fine."

"Yeah, but there's also the jet ski's and flyboards," Kataoka said, as she looked over the draft designs of the chapel.

Mitsuko drew two crossed on the design. "Think of it this way, the snipers are going to need to be in a position here to not get in the way of the water-wall we're making."

Takebayashi adjusted his glasses. "The circumference of the chapel itself will need to be adjusted as well, right now it's too large."

Kataoka made some notes. "So, a smaller chapel and re-arrange the snipers."

"And people say maths isn't fun," Mitsuko commented, smirking as she twirled her pencil.

Okuda smiled. "It really is interesting doing this kind of stuff, it's like we're the code in the computer!"

"Yeah!" Ritsu exclaimed from Mitsuko's phone. "It is fun. Oh! And I've adjusted the calculations as per your suggestions," she told them, bringing up a re-design of the blueprints. "I can have this printed and send over a 3D simulation for you all to look over."

"Thanks, Ritsu," Mitsuko said, leaning over to take a cookie off the plate. "We appreciate it. Can you also run another simulation countering in the best success rate with the new positions?"

"Sure, no problem." Ritsu gave a thumbs up and then jumped when the phone buzzed. "Oh and text alert from your brother." She brought the text message up to view. "He's making dinner and wants you home."

Mitsuko blushed, swallowing her cooking. "Ritsu," she hissed, scowling at her phone when she lifted it up. "I told you not to read my messages."

Ritsu looked sheepish. "Oh...um...oops?" She gave a strained laugh. "Sorry."

She sighed, frowning when she saw the others looking. "I better go." She stood up. "He's still been pretty uptight these days."

"Can't imagine why." The corner of Kataoka's lips twitched upwards slightly.

Mitsuko hid most of her amusement. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." She slid her phone in her pocket and picked up her bag. "Thank you for the cookies, Okuda."

"No problem." Okuda smiled. "Are you sure you'll get home all right, it's getting dark."

"I'll be fine. I just need to go to the station," Mitsuko replied, slipping her jacket back on.

"I'll walk you."

Mitsuko froze for a second before she looked over at Karma, wondering if he misspoke. "Uh, what?"

Karma stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I'm gonna head home. I'll walk you to the station."

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh...Okay," she replied warily, glancing at the others briefly; they looked confused as well. "But if this is a prank, I'll kick your ass."

Karma yawned, stretching. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Still confused, Mitsuko slowly started to follow him towards the door. "Well, bye then, guys," she told the others as Okuda opened the door for them. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye!" Okuda waved while the others said goodbye as well.

Mitsuko kept her eyes locked on Karma, on guard as they walked down the street. The sun was already beginning to set and the street lamps were starting to turn on.

"So, you're heading to Nakamura's family wedding soon?" Karma said casually.

She narrowed her gaze at him. "Yes."

"Should be fun." He sounded much too carefree.

Mitsuko scowled, looking away. "If you have something to say, then just say it."

Karma raised an eyebrow when he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "If you're gonna tell her you should just do it."

She gripped her bag strap tightly, keeping her glare fixed straight ahead. "Last time I checked, it wasn't any of your business, Karma."

Karma sighed loudly. "I don't see what the big deal is." He stretched. "You like girls, she likes girls. Just get on with it."

Mitsuko froze on the spot. "Wait, you—you definitely know for sure she likes girls?!"

Karma paused, looking over his shoulder. "Don't you?"

She blushed, looking away. "O-of course! I was just still a little...unsure." She grew defensive. "I was already sure she did! It's just weird that she told you."

Karma smirked. "Well, she didn't outright tell me but...well, she has an interesting porn collection." Then he just casually resumed walking.

Mitsuko nearly choked. "Porn collection?!" She ran to catch up with him and blocked his path. "Why have you seen her—her—"

"Porn collection?" Karma repeated innocently.

Her face was bright red. "Stop saying that!" She looked away. "Why would Rio show you that of all things?"

Karma shrugged. "Well, she was embarrassed when I found it." He smirked. "It was pretty funny actually."

Mitsuko felt something tingle pleasantly when she imagined Rio blushing and flustered, but she shook it off and glared at him. "You're such a creep!"

Karma raised his hands. "Hey, at least I don't draw hentai in my spare time."

Her face flushed even redder. "Shut up! It wasn't even mine, you asshole!"

Karma hummed in amusement, stepped around her to resume walking. "Still hentai." He stretched, placing his hands behind his head lazily. "Anyway, I'm just saying you should make a move."

Mitsuko grimaced, walking alongside him. "It's just...hard, okay." She let out a deep breath, looking down. "Like we're talking a full relationship and what if..." She cringed, feeling her stomach twist. "People say it's just a phase and what if...what if we get together and it doesn't work?"

Karma eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

She fidgeted anxiously. "I just mean...what if I'm wrong and I'm just assuming too much or...?"

"You overthink way too much," Karma commented, making her frown. "Seriously, why are you acting like your whole life hinges on whether things work out with you and her?"

_Because then Gakushuu would be right._

Mitsuko chewed her bottom lip, giving an awkward shrug.

"Just relax already," Karma continued dismissively. "The way I see f you should just see how it goes and if it doesn't work out just get over it and move on."

She sighed. "I don't think it's that easy, Karma..."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, only because you make it hard. Seriously why do girls have to make these things complicated?"

Mitsuko felt her temper flare and kicked him in the back of his shin, making him stumble. "Shut up!"

Karma caught himself from falling and swerved around to regain his balance. "Hey! No need to get violent." He was grinning again. "Defensiveness is a sign of insecurity."

"Don't be a prick," she snapped, scowling. "Or do I need to bring up your final results to knock you down a peg again."

A flash of anger shone in his eyes briefly but she didn't pay it much head, satisfied that she'd gotten a rise out of him.

"No need to be a bitch," he said a little too coolly.

"Considering you're a sadist, you really don't have a leg to stand on here," she told him lightly as she walked further ahead. "So, did you really just want to walk with me because you were interested in my relationship status?"

Karma hummed, shrugging as he stuffed his hand in his pockets. "Nakamura's a good friend." He lightly kicked a pebble. "I like to think I know her pretty well by now."

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah." He smiled widely when he looked at her. "So don't mess her around or I'll clog your nose up with wasabi and chilies."

She froze on the spot, blanching. "W-what?!"

He continued to smile, a spring in his step as he walked. "I'm just saying."

Mitsuko nearly choked, quickly catching back up. "If you so much as wave a chili in my direction, I'll stab you!!"

* * *

Mitsuko felt her nerves on edge as she lingered near a corner of the wedding reception.

The Nakamura's were a friendly bunch, a little too friendly in some cases since the women felt compelled to hug Mitsuko every time Rio introduced her.

She frowned, cradling a lemonade in her hand, wishing for something a little stronger to calm her nerves.

She was tempted to chat with Ritsu but being on her phone throughout the celebrations wasn't exactly good for appearances.

_Where did Rio run off to anyway?_

Mitsuko looked around for the blonde in the crowd, but people had already started dancing and the DJ had popped on some bright fluorescent disco lights. She could just about see Rio's brother dancing with his new bride loosely, the two of them doing some kind of strange tango dance that wasn't that well-choreographed.

_Were all weddings like this?_

She sighed quietly, fidgeting as she felt a familiar rise of panic start to rear its head. Mitsuko moved around the edge of the room towards the dessert table. At least if she was eating something she had an excuse for standing alone.

Mitsuko filled a large plate to herself as she watched the guests. The whole reception hall in the hotel was a rainbow of colours and the place itself looked expensive with its high ceiling and chandelier hanging high. It was a bit gaudy but it was nice.

She looked away from the ceiling when she saw a waiter stop by from the corner of her eye. He was loosening his tie, placing a tray of wine on the table so he could reach into his pocket and grab a packet of cigarettes.

Mitsuko watched him curiously as he left the tray and disappeared through the emergency exit with one of the cigarettes balanced in his mouth. Her gaze shifted to the tray of six glasses of wine and then at the dance floor.

_Well, there's more than one way to loosen up._

With light fingers she picked up a glass a took a generous sip, feeling an instant relief when the pleasant buzz tingled down her throat. Her shoulders loosened as she leaned against the wall and felt some of the tension leave her.

She placed the full plate back on the table and managed to finish off two glasses of wine before the waiter came back to reclaim the tray; not seeming to care for the missing two glasses.

Mitsuko wandered closer to the dance floor, looking for Rio among the crowd again. Her head was hazing up pleasantly, containing her nerves under a thin layer of calmness for the time being. She sighed quietly, finding herself near the center of the crowd where everyone was dancing to some catchy song.

Then with a wisp of long blonde hair, Rio bumped into her. "Hey!"

Mitsuko blinked, feeling lightheaded under the lights; the different colours of blue and pink were lighting up the other girl's face like porcelain, it was pretty, and made her stare for longer than she should have.

"Where were you?"

Rio smiled widely, casually resting her arm on her shoulder. "Sorry, had to go back to my room and change out of those heels." Rio leaned on her further when she lifted her leg to proudly show a pair of flat sandals. "They're cute, right?"

"Yeah," Mitsuko replied, starting to feel tired when the buzz in her head took over.

Rio's hand slipped to her arm. "Hey?" Her smile faded. "You okay?"

"Yes," Mitsuko replied quickly and then frowned. "Just tired..." She mumbled, glancing at the other dancers as the music slowed; something started to ache in her stomach when she watched them. "Can we dance?" She asked, looking at Rio hesitantly.

The other girl raised a brow briefly but then smiled. "Yeah, sure." She rested her hands on her shoulders. "I'm taller, so I'll lead."

Mitsuko scowled. "You're taller by like an inch."

Rio's smile bared teeth. "Still one inch more than you."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and rested her hands on Rio's hips. "Just don't step on me."

To Rio's credit, she didn't step on her. The dance was slow and calm enough that Mitsuko actually caved in and leaned closer to rest her head on Rio's shoulder; there was some tension in the shoulders briefly but it went quickly.

Mitsuko closed her eyes, relaxing as the swayed to the music. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Well, being alone at a wedding is kind of depressing," Rio replied with ease and was then quiet for a moment. "...I'm glad you came. This is...nice."

She hummed, pulling her closer, smiling when some blond hairs tickled her nose.

"...You nervous about the plan?" Rio asked quietly.

Mitsuko's eyes eased open a fraction. "I guess..." She sighed softly, looking at the other dancers. "I hope it works but...I have a feeling it won't."

Rio snorted. "Well, that's just great."

Mitsuko smiled faintly. "Sorry." She closed her eyes. "It's probably just me. You're a lot better at this than me."

"Pfft, nah, I barely know what I'm doing half the time."

That was a lie, clearly. "You don't need to try to make me feel better," she replied, humming. "I know I'm not that good, and so does everyone else..." Her chest tightened. "My dad doesn't even think I could kill a spider."

_Not good enough._

Rio's pulled her a little closer. "Yeah, well, your dad's and stuck up asshole, so screw him."

Mitsuko snorted, smiling fondly. "Hm...true."

"You're a part of E Class," Rio murmured near her ear. "You've got just as much bloodlust as the rest of us."

_If that was true, I wouldn't be put on strategy support._

Mitsuko sighed. "Right, sure..."

The music gradually eased back into something louder and less soothing.

Mitsuko felt drowsy, pulling away from Rio as people started to dance with more energy.

"Mitsu?" Rio's brow was furrowed when she looked at her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Mitsuko stared at her for a moment, they were close and if she wanted she could—Her gaze shifted back down, pulling further away when she felt a rise of panic settle and grow in her stomach, remembering where she was and multiple family members which could see everything.

"I'm just tired—my feet hurt," she mumbled, moving away fully s there was a respectable gap between them. "I'm gonna head back to my room."

"You can bunk at mine if you want," Rio offered.

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, staring at the girl warily, wondering if she fully realised the implications while at the same time wondering if she was just looking for something that wasn't there. "No...it's fine," she replied, taking a step back. "My dad's paying for it so I should use it."

"Hm." The blonde's lips were set in a thin displeased line. "Okay, if that's what you want." Then a small smile crept back onto her face. "Just make sure to overcharge for room service."

The joke made her laugh a little, like always, something familiar and normal again. 

"I might just open a tab to piss him off."


	20. It'll be Okay

"Wow, there it is!" Kurahashi yelled in excitement as the boat neared the island.

Mitsuko glanced up, leaning on the bars of the boat, she felt her excitement start to grow, smiling when she looked over at her classmates and then Koro-sensei.

_We're actually going to do this!_

Rio nudged her playfully. "Nervous?"

Her smile grew. "Not yet." She looked over at Koro-sensei who was vomiting over the boat, seasick. "But let's see how long we can keep him occupied."

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Mitsuko stared in a horror at the bright blue bikini Bitch-sensei was holding up.

The two of them were in one of the cozy changing huts near the beach. Group one had already gone off with Koro-sensei to go hand-gliding, which meant she and the rest of group two needed to get ready for recon.

Bitch-sensei grinned, waving the bikini on the hanger. "Hm, sexy right?" She winked. "This will do just the trick to woo, Nakamura."

Mitsuko went bright red. "There is no way in hell I'm wearing that!" she snapped, putting her foot down. "I'll look ridiculous!"

Her teacher scowled. "Oh, don't be such a prude." She placed her hands on her hips. "You're going snorkeling, this is a perfect opportunity."

"Yeah, to look like a hooker," Mitsuko remarked, folding her arms. "What's wrong with the swimsuit I already have?"

Bitch-sensei scoffed, barely glancing at the traditional blue school-issued swimsuit on the bench. "Other than a fashion disaster?" She crossed her arms. "Look, you're the one who wanted my help, kid. So you can either take it or leave it."

Mitsuko hesitated, grimacing when she looked at the bikini; it wasn't completely indecent, or at least by Bitch-sensei standard. It wasn't a thong so it would cover all the necessary regions, but the top half was a low cut and would show cleavage...

_Gakushuu would throw a fit if he saw me in that._

Mitsuko felt her uneasiness grow. "I'll look ridiculous," she mumbled.

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes. "No, you won't!" She raised the outfit back into view. "I picked it out especially to complement you best. It'll even make that pancake you call a chest look half-way decent."

A vein throbbed on her forehead. "Screw you."

Bitch-sensei smirked, tossing the bikini on the bench. "Fine. Don't wear it." She sighed loudly, turning away. "I was only trying to help."

Mitsuko frowned as she watched her leave the changing hut with a swift close of the door. She stood alone in silence for a while before her gaze shifted to her swimsuit and then the bikini.

It wasn't as if she was ashamed of her body, but showing that much skin was...

She hesitated for a long while until curiosity got the better of her and she removed her dress to try on the outfit.

It was a good fit and felt comfortable despite the amount of her midriff and cleavage showing, and she liked how it looked, despite everything.

Mitsuko's lips set in a thin line, looking down at herself. There was no need to even be self-conscious, her body was at the peak of physical health and there was a healthy amount of muscle on her stomach with some abs faintly visible; as it should be considering the Principal's high standards when it came to her and Gakushuu's physical health.

A brief memory of one winter break, when she'd grown a little pudgy during the last year of elementary school, resurfaced like crawling ants on her skin when she remembered clearly the looks the Principal had given her throughout every breakfast until she'd lost the weight.

She cringed and touch her toned stomach for reassurance.

There was nothing to be self-conscious about.

Mitsuko chewed her bottom lips, squirming for a long while.

_...Oh, fuck it._

* * *

Mitsuko nearly turned back and ran when Karma gave a low wolf whistle when he saw her walk down the harbour.

She scowled, refusing to look embarrassed as she approached. "Eyes up here, pervert!" She pointed at her face, making Karma grin while Nagisa and Sugino looked away with a blush.

Rio meanwhile was staring at her with wide eyes.

Mitsuko swallowed, and then raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The other girl blinked, and then smiled easily. "Nothing, just that..." Her smile grew crooked, walking over. "This looks new," she commented as she casually pulled the side of her bikini bottoms like elastic. "I like it."

"Ah!" Mitsuko jerked back when the material snapped back against her hips. "What the hell, Rio!?"

The blonde grinned wickedly. "And it's stretchy too."

"You're unbelievable." Mitsuko rolled her eyes, accepting the set of snorkeling gear from Nagisa who gave her a sympathetic smile. "So when are we up?"

Sugino smiled sheepishly form where he was bathing in the water. "Soon..." He looked up at the hand-gliders racing above. "That group's doing all right keeping him distracted."

Karma smirked, looking up. "You have to respect anyone involved enough to take shots at a guy in mid-flight." Hiroto tried to shoot Koro-sensei. "Good luck not drawing unwanted attention."

"No kidding," Nagisa remarked.

"Alright people, we're up next!" Kayano exclaimed. "Everyone do what they need to so we can get changed!"

"On it!" Sugino and Karma put on their goggles and dived into the water.

Mitsuko slipped hers on before looking at Rio who winked before diving in. A shy smile slid onto her face briefly as she dived in after her.

The recon wasn't exactly difficult, but they needed to be fast if they were going to pull this off, and more importantly, they needed to be accurate to the calculations.

Mitsuko nodded at Karma who gave her a thumbs up when they re-checked the ropes and contraptions secured around the floating chapel.

_Now, let's hope this works._

She breathed in a deep gulp of air when they all came back up, and then frowned when Rio splashed her. "Hey!"

Rio laughed. "What, we're meant to be having fun."

"Yeah." Karma threw a larger splash at Mitsuko. "Don't let the side down, Mitsuko."

Mitsuko scowled deeply when the two of them laughed. "Ugh, you two are—" She coughed when Karma slammed his arms on the water, splashing a wave her way. "That's it!" She tried to grab him and dunk him under the water. "Come here, asshole!"

Rio burst out laughing when the two of them started to wrestle in the water.

*******

Mitsuko took a deep breath.

_This was it._

She glanced at Rio as the two of them stood in front of the chapel. "Ready?" she asked.

Rio smirked, folding her arms. "Been pumped since we got here."

Mitsuko smiled, watching as Koro-sensei happily walked into the chapel. "Right." She squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Good luck."

"Yeah," Rio replied, looking up at the chapel. There was a slight apprehension when her smirk faltered a little, but it was brief. "Yeah." Her smirk grew. "We can do this."

Mitsuko's smile broadened, nodding, feeling her excitement grow like a warm buzz.

When inside the chapel and the video footage began to place, she stayed near the back while Rio took a position upfront with the others' who'd won a tentacle.

High-tide would be coming in soon.

And it did, quicker than she expected.

The rest that followed was diving into water to aim the hoses at the target when the chapel was pulled away, exposing them all to the night sky.

Everyone was on mark, everything was in position.

Mitsuko bit down hard on her tongue, aiming the house exactly where it needed to be while the water wall from the flyboards and the pellets from the guns sprayed Koro-sensei mercilessly.

They had the upper hand for the first time in months and...

Mitsuko choked when she was thrown underwater when a bright light spread out from Koro-sensei, and when she lifted her head back above water.

"Did we get him?!" she yelled, looking around.

"Spread out and check!" someone yelled.

Karasuma came running towards them. "Don't let your guard down!" He stopped at the harbour edge with Bitch-sensei behind him. "It's still possible for him to regenerate. Right, Isogai, you and Kataoka go keep an eye out for the target."

"Yes sir!" they both replied in unison, swimming out to sea.

They all swam around, looking around the water in the dark.

"We had to have gotten him, right?" Sugaya exclaimed.

Mitsuko grimaced. "You know what he's like."

Kayano gasped. "Hey look over there!!" She pointed at some bubbles coming from a small spot in the water.

"Oh, crap!" Kimura gasped, backing away.

Mitsuko held her breath, staring.

_Did our attack do nothing or...?_

"Heheheh." A small Koro-sensei ball suddenly floated to the top.

_What the fuck?_

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Allow me to introduce my trump card of trump cards--My absolute defence form!"

"AN ABSOLUTE DEFENCE FORM?!"

"What kind of science-bullcrap is that?!" Mitsuko fumed.

Sugaya scratched his head. "Uh...How is this possible again?"

Mitsuko let out a frustrated scream before ducking her head underwater to drown herself.

_God Damn it!_

Even from underneath the water she could hear the smug bastard she called a teacher chuckling.

* * *

Mitsuko sighed, feeling exhausted as she and the others sat down for drinks outside on the patio.

"Well, that was a failure," she said, wiping her brow; she frowned when she realized how clammy it was.

Sugaya rested his hand in his palm, shrugging. "Yep. It's kind of depressing." He groaned, burying his face in his hands. "This was our largest plot yet."

Mitsuko mumbled, closing her eyes to rest her head on the table; her body felt heavy. "Yeah..."

"You're just gonna call it a night?" Terasaka's loud voice made her cringe. "We did what we're supposed to what do you want? Granted the octopus is still kicking but we're on a primo vacation either way."

Okajima grinned. "Truth man! I'm gonna spend all day tomorrow ogling gorgeous babes. Just give me a few hours in the sack and ladies here I go!"

Mitsuko's face scrunched up, struggling to sit up. "M'gonna go to bed..."

Sugaya looked up, frowning. "Hey, you okay?"

"Hm." She blinked slowly, feeling a prick of uneasiness when she wiped sweat from her neck. "M'just..." She tried to stand up, holding onto the table for support. "Tired."

Sugaya's frown deepened, standing up. "Mitsuko?"

She tried to ignore him, groaning when her stomach churned painfully.

_Shit. What was in that food?_

She could feel the sweat drip down her forehead now, and she could hear some of the others groaning as well and...shit...

_I really need to lie down._

Mitsuko collapsed on her knees, closing her eyes as she cradled the chair.

"Mitsuko!" Sugaya tried to pull her up but her body slumped onto the ground.

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the edge of the chair, passing out into a comforting blackness.

* * *

Everything was warm and uncomfortable.

Her eyes fluttered open every now and then to get small wisps of the conversation.

"...We might as well lay down and die right now!!" Terasaka was yelling something stupid.

Mitsuko groaned, burying her face in a pillow...a pillow. She had a blanket covering her and a pillow under her head.

"It'll be okay," Okuda was speaking to her, placing a wet cloth on her forehead to cool her down.

Mitsuko didn't really believe it since Takebayashi then droned on about them being dead before the hour if they were moved somewhere, but her head was too feverish to even care, as if it was a struggle just to work up enough energy to panic.

She closed her eyes again, wishing for sleep while her classmates' arguing became distant mumbles...

_Then she started to dream and it was somewhere cold but also warm. Dreams mixed with memories like the warmth of fire against ice-cold fingers._

When she opened her eyes she saw an orange basketball for a split second cover the bright sun before it hit her in the face.

"Oh, crap!" A boy yelled.

Mitsuko's face scrunched up, her small body hitting the grass.

"Ikeda!" There was a girl yelling. "I told you to be careful."

"I didn't mean too!" The same boy yelled back, defensive. "I didn't even see her?"

Mitsuko's bottom lip wobbled looking up when the three cram students rushed over and blocked out the sun with their shadows.

"Aw, are you all right, Mitsuko?" the girl asked gently.

"Hey, you're fine, right, Mitsu-chan?" Ikeda asked hastily.

The boy with glasses sighed. "Uh, I think you might have bruised her face?"

"Shut up, Nakai!" Ikeda looked panicked, and then quickly looked down at Mitsuko. "It'll be okay, Mitsu-chan! Just, just don't tell your dad!"

The girl scowled. "You're unbelievable."

Ikeda glared at her. "Hey, cut me some slack, Mori!"

Mitsuko's eyes watered, feeling her cheek start to hurt and her tears build up until:

"DADDY!!"

The three big kids jerked back at the yell.

"Oh, come on!" Ikeda groaned, covering his ears when she cried.

Mori sighed. "You're in for it now."

Mitsuko sniffled loudly, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was coming out of the braids her mom had styled it in and her sunflower dress was dusty from the mud.

"Is everything alright?"

A shadow fell over her, making her look up as long arms reached down to lift her.

Mitsuko smiled and snuggled into the embrace as her dad held her close and safe.

"It was an accident!" Ikeda said quickly. "Really, sir! I'm sorry!"

Mitsuko sniffled as her dad's hand cupped her cheek to examine the pink swelling on the side of her face.

There was a sigh. "Well, my wife won't be pleased." Her dad leaned down and placed a small kiss on her bruised cheek, making her giggle when it tickled. "Just be more careful next time, Ikeda."

"Yes, sir! I will!" Ikeda nodded his head strongly, looking guilty. "I'm sorry, Mitsu-chan." He smiled widely and held up the basketball. His dark blonde hair shining and the sun and his smile bordering on cheeky. "Look, I'll even let you play with this!"

Mitsuko looked at the ball with a scowl. "NO!" she snapped petulantly and whacked the ball out of his hand.

"Hey!" Ikeda looked surprised while the others laughed.

"I don't think she'd really want to play with it after that," Nakai commented teasingly, adjusting his large glasses.

Mitsuko felt a warm glow in her stomach at the laughter until something cold washed over her and the arms holding her loosened and released.

_Everything was cold and dark again it drifted away like a fog, moving to the edges._

In a spacious kitchen, her mom was yelling. "Gakuhou, please, just talk to me!"

Her dad was unresponsive, his suit wrinkled, and his face blanker than a corpse's.

He was sitting at the breakfast table, just staring off into the distance, like he couldn't hear her.

Mom narrowed her eyes, balling her hands into fists. "Snap out of it! It wasn't your fault that boy..." She trailed off uncomfortably, looking close to tears. "I want my _husband_ back, not, not this _shell_." She gritted her teeth. "You can't be this weak!"

Something dark flashed in his eyes. " _Weak..."_ he repeated, slowly raising his gaze.

His wife tensed and backed off. "I..."

"Daddy?" A tiny little girl in bunny patterned pyjamas stepped out of her hiding place behind the pantry.

"Mitsuko!" Mom snapped. "I told you to go to bed!"

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "No," she replied defiantly, hurrying over to her dad. "I want _daddy_ to read me a story!"

Mom's eyes flashed with anger. "Mitsuko—"

Her dad rose from his seat and took hold of her small hand. "Come on, Mitsuko." His voice was bland.

"Gakuhou!" his wife snapped. "I wasn't finished!"

He ignored her mom and led Mitsuko upstairs.

"Daddy, why is mommy upset?" she asked quietly when she was sat up in her bed.

He still had that detached look in his eyes. "Because..." he trailed off, stroking her head. "I was allowing myself to grovel in my despair when I should have been properly utilizing my time to make amends."

"Huh?" Mitsuko frowned at all the big words he was using, hugging her sheets tighter.

Her dad looked at her, but it was like he wasn't really seeing _her_. "Things will change very soon, Mitsuko, and then we will both be _strong_."

"Strong...?" Her brow furrowed deeper, tensing.

He nodded, stroking the top of her head reassuringly. " _Yes_ , both you and Gakushuu. I promise." His eyes looked weird and scary in the dim light. "No matter what it takes. Do you understand?"

Mitsuko's stomach felt funny like she'd be sick, starting to feel scared when her eyes pricked with tears and the words that come out a mumble, "No..."

His hand stilled on the top of her head as he stared down at her for a long time. She wasn't sure what she'd said wrong but the cold silence started to make her stomach ache.

"You will soon," he replied softly, shifting his gaze away as he stood up.

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, watching him walk out of the room without another word, closing the door behind him.

_She scrunched her eyes close tight, wanting the bad dream to end._

_Memories were blurring together, like smoke being pumped out and then fading, and each time the smoke cleared a memory came into full focus; ones she wanted to forget._

Mitsuko blinked, mind recovering from a haze when she opened her eyes.

_Where was she again?_

"Your progress this year was _barely_ satisfactory."

They were in their dad's office, except it wasn't like the other countless times before because he was their Principal now and they were at _his_ school, and this office was colder and darker than the one at home.

Mitsuko focussed, looking to her right where Gakushuu was standing next to her. He was tense. They both were.

"How were my results not _satisfactory_?" Gakushuu replied with more bite than usual, narrowing eyes. "I outranked year two and three."

The Principal—dad, yes, still dad—tilted his head, smiling thinly. "But Mitsuko scored thirteenth."

She felt her shoulders seize up, an ugly pit settle in her stomach. "That's not his fault!" Her voice wavered in the middle. "You can't just blame—"

"Your sister's short-comings are just as much as your failure as they are hers," The Principal interrupted smoothly, ignoring her when he looked at Gakushuu. "As a leader, you carry the burdens of your subordinates, their failure impacts your strength."

Mitsuko choked a little, feeling her eyes prick with tears. "That's ridiculous!" she snapped, closing her eyes tight when she felt Gakushuu take a step nearer. "Just because I didn't get first place doesn't mean I failed! This is our _first year_ , and we've already done better than the upperclassmen!"

She wanted to scream how unfair it was.

"If you're _so_ disappointed then maybe you should evaluate your own bad teaching, _sir_ ," her brother argued, stepping in front of her. "You are the Principal."

"My education is without flaw," The Principal replied without pause. "The strong can only be when the weak are kept in place." He stood up, making them both stiffen. "You are the leader of A-Class, are you not? How will you ever beat me if you can't make sure A-Class maintains its strength?"

Her brother gritted his teeth hard, baring them.

Mitsuko grimaced and tried to hold his hand, to reassure, but Gakushuu curled it into a fist and shifted it out of her reach.

The Principal smiled at them thinly. "But perhaps, you've both forgotten that." The sigh he gave made her flinch. "After all, you seem so busy with your friends these days."

Mitsuko felt a spark of fierce protectiveness. "Leave them out of this!"

Gakushuu glared at him. "We are _not_ distracted."

He stared at them both like he was inspecting flies in a web. "Quick to make excuses, I see." He walked over to them both. "But the truth is on paper."

Her brother drew closer to her protectively while they kept their eyes locked on the Principal, as the air in the office felt more suffocating.

Mitsuko glanced at her brother and then at their father. "I...I'll do better next time," she tried to sound confident. "This was just...it was a misstep. Next time will be different!"

The Principal stopped in the front of them, scrutinising her for a moment. "Really?"

"I won't fail." Despite how much she tried her nerves seeped out when her hands shook; she placed them on her hips to hide the shaking. "I'm just as strong as Gakushuu!"

He raised an eyebrow when he looked down at her. "I see." His gaze shifted to her brother. "Well then." He smiled and turned away. "In that case, the status-quo should be secure for another year." His smile was gone when he looked over his shoulder them. "Yes?"

Mitsuko channeled her resentment into a glare as she and her brother replied in unison;

"Yes, _sir_."

_The lights flickered off in a blink. Mitsuko felt soaked in sweat when she stirred, closing her eyes tight when her stomach ached and her forehead burned._

_"It's okay," Okuda's voice came in a wisp of air and was gone again._

Mitsuko gasped, lurching forward when she opened her eyes.

_I was..._

The clock was ticking and she was surrounded in a hall full of students taking a test.

A test. There was a test. It was finals.

Mitsuko shakily picked up her pencil, feeling exhausted and sweating badly.

It was like someone had hollowed out her stomach and left nothing behind.

The ticking got louder.

She buried her face in her hand, feeling too warm, and the inside of her mouth tasted like metal.

Her hand felt wet, making her frown when she stared at her hand and realised she was crying.

_Why am I crying?_

She looked down at the test, everything she'd written looked like scribbles, meshing together in an inky mess.

Mitsuko stared at the test, the test for something she couldn't remember. Only remembering how important it was, but the answers were there. The answers were there in her head somewhere and she tried to write them. She tried.

She covered her mouth when saliva leaked out, a burning building in her throat that was threatening to come back up until...

_She closed her eyes tight until they stung._

_"Mitsuko?" Takebayashi's voice came in a whisper._

_Her mind gained clarity long enough to feel him press the damp cloth under her eyes like he was wiping her cheeks._

He was wiping her cheeks.

Her eyes stung.

Mitsuko shut her eyes again.

_The memory that came choked up the air, everything sharpened distinctively by the feverish heat which hit its peak and burned--_

"Hey, it's okay!" Rio said too loudly, shaking her shoulder. "It's not so bad."

Mitsuko looked away from the exam results board that was tauntingly displayed in the all.

All the other students had already left after seeing their results.

Rio smiled grimly. "You've got enough good grades from midterms and first year to keep you okay," she reassured. "You'll be fine."

Mitsuko stared at her for a long moment as everything sunk in like ice traveling from fingers to toes.

"Not so...bad?" she repeated softly, wanting to spit.

"Hey, come on, it could be worse." Rio's tauntingly easy smile stayed in place. "And you're such a smart-ass you'll get back up in no time."

Mitsuko tasted bile in her throat, feeling a rage build inside of her like fire. Her skin prickles and itched.

Her gaze shifted past the other girl and to the cameras watching. Where the Principal would be watching.

Gakushuu would be disappointed. _He'd be blamed and he'd resent her for it._

The cameras in the hallway bared down on her like a taunting audience.

_Failure. Absolute failure._

And all Rio could do was smile.

For the first time in her life, she hated that smile.

"Mitsuko, it's _okay_ ," Rio said, squeezing her shoulder.

Mitsuko couldn't take it anymore and grabbed the hand, squeezing tight enough to hurt.

" _No_ , it's not."

Rio's eyes widened in alarm. "Mitsuko?"

She gritted her teeth, wanting to scream at her and make her understand just how much _this_ hurt. How much everything was ruined because of it.

So she did.

And, everything that came out was sharpened to hurt.

It felt _good_ —

_The memories fevered and grew hot. Dark smoke fogging up everything and making it hard to breathe until..._

Until she was alone in the dark again.

_The fever was gone and replaced with a cold sweat like she'd been pulled away from the fire and shoved outside._

Mitsuko shakily touched her face, staring at the smooth blank ground like it was the only thing left in the world.

"Mitsuko?"

Her eyes popped open, sweat soaking her but...also relieving. Like a sickness had been burned out in a hot wave.

"Oi!" Karma poked her forehead harshly. "Wake up, idiot."

"Ow!" Mitsuko registered the pain, touching her forehead. "What the hell?"

Karma smiled crookedly. "Finally." He leaned back, which is when she noticed the rest of her classmates starting to sit up. "Some of us were really starting to think you were dead for a minute there."

Mitsuko blinked slowly, looking around at the others who were stirring and starting to get out from under the blankets.

She flinched when someone came from behind and wrapped arms around her shoulders.

"No, duh!" Rio's cheery voice croaked at the edges, her own skin still clammy from sickness. "Had me worried you'd got the real point for a sec." She laughed shakily.

Mitsuko felt numb, wanting to pull away when the memories of the dreams prickled her mind. "W-what happened?"

Rio squeezed her reassuringly. "We got poisoned," she replied quietly. "Only half mainly. So Karma and Nagisa-kun had to go and save us."

"Oh." Mitsuko blinked slowly, earning a frown from Karma who checked her temperature with the back of his hand.

"You'll live, but you're gonna feel like crap for the rest of the trip," Karma said, pinching her cheek teasingly.

She scowled, making him laugh when she glared at him.

The two of them laughed, easing her slightly as she rolled her head back and rested it on Rio's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," Rio reassured warmly.

Mitsuko closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep, hoping she was right this time.


	21. You have so much Potential

"So, why are we doing this again?" Mitsuko questioned as she and Sugaya manoeuvred through the dark cave. "I mean, a test of courage sounds like something a six-year-old would think of."

Sugaya shrugged. "I don't know. It's not the weirdest thing he's convinced us to do."

She raised an eyebrow. "What, like when he had the bright idea to go along with Terasaka's plan and nearly got us all drowned?"

Sugaya cringed. "Still trying to forgot that."

"Hey, guys, hurry up!" Rio called from far ahead, grinning. "I want to see if I can scare Koro-sensei before he finds us!"  
  
Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Well that'll be fun," she commented dryly. "But what I want to know is why he stuck just us three together, everyone else is in pairs..."  
  
Sugaya gave her a look like she was an idiot. "Well, considering how much of a third wheel I'm feeling right now. Either he's a fan of polygamy or he's picked me as your beard."  
  
"A beard?" Mitsuko frowned. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Sugaya sighed, shaking his head. "How is it I know more about gay slang than you?" He whispered. "I'm your cover, dude."

 _My cover? Cover for....oh._  
  
Her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh."  
  
"Yeah." He nodded. " _Oh."_  
  
She blushed, looking over at Rio who was already further ahead. "So...that would mean he knows."  
  
"I'd be more surprised if he didn't. He's a bigger stalker than you."  
  
Mitsuko shushed him, looking embarrassed. "I just...well, he never said anything that's all."  
  
"He's probably still taking notes," Sugaya commented. "He's always writing in that notebook, remember?"  
  
"I know..." She scowled, feeling annoyed. "I wish he wouldn't, though..."

"Hey, at least you were paired with someone," Sugaya whispered, grimacing. "Like seriously, what am I? How come I don't get a pairing?"

"Well the only other student you could have been paired with is Ritsu and she's happily unattached so..." Mitsuko tried not to laugh, patting him on the back. "Aw, it's okay, Suga-kun!" She teased. "Worst case you end up dating your computer hard drive."

"Haha. You're so funny." He whacked her hand away. "My point is that I feel more underappreciated than when I made that scarecrow in the dark when Gastro was shooting the place up."

"If I had been there you would have gotten the praise you deserve," Mitsuko told him seriously, and then smirked, hurrying up to catch up with Rio. "Now come on, you're slowing us down."

"Hey!" Rio looked over her shoulder when they approached, standing in front of a wall with red writing painted on the wall. "Check this out."

Mitsuko frowned, reading the poem. "This is a blood-drenched cave of tragedy where Ryukyu royalty, defeated in battle, met a violent end."

Rio snorted. "Oh, wow he's really going all out."

Sugaya hummed, staining his finger when he touched the paint. "Yeah, except it's painted in acrylic."

Mitsuko sighed. "Figures." She looked around. "So, any idea on a way—"

There was a weird echoing sound coming from further ahead of the cave, making them feel a spike of fear.

"Uh, what is that?" Sugaya questioned warily.

Rio's eyes widened when the noise got louder. "No idea."

Mitsuko stepped back. "Um, I think we should—"

"AHHHH!!" Koro-sensei came barrelling through in an extremely tacky costume, screaming his lungs out in terror.

The three students jerked back in surprise when he took one look at them and then ran away in horror.

Rio looked more shocked than scared when they were left in silence. "What the hell?"

* * *

"So, what, all of this was a part of your weird romance fantasy?" Mitsuko asked dryly.

"Shabby-grown-up," Rio remarked, smirking.

Koro-sensei sobbed quietly. "I just wanted a sappy romance."

"How come Sugaya got two girls?" Okajima whined, making the three students in question look over. "No fair!"

"Ugh, Pervert," Mitsuko and Rio said coldly.

"So basically you meant to frighten us into becoming couples thanks to the suspension-bridge effect?" Maehara questioned.

Koro-sensei collapsed on the ground.

"We saw right through you before you even scared us!"

"B-but I wanted to see you all! I wanted to grin at you holding hands and blushing, two by two! I was trying to keep you from marrying someone random!" Koro-sensei frantically spoke, sobbing all the time.

"Never mind that stuff. There are plenty of us who don't want to be dragged into a love affair. We're not all as sleazy as you," Rio said bluntly.

"All right, Nakamura. I get it." Koro-sensei is still sobbing.

"You call that a test of courage? There was nobody in there! What a waste of fear!" Bitch-sensei comes out of the cave, her hands holding on to Karasuma's tightly.

"Huh?" Mitsuko looked over at them curiously.

"I told you it was pointless clinging to me like that. I don't need that kind of baggage after an all-nighter," Karasuma says irritably.

"Shut up! You are a man, aren't you? If there's a pretty woman around, escort her nicely!"

"Huh?" Sugaya exchanged a look with Mitsuko.

She raised an eyebrow and started to feel an amused smile creep onto her face as she watched Bitch-sensei and Mr Karasuma argue.

"Interesting..." Mitsuko commented, rubbing her chin. "Very interesting."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Rio asked.

Karma smirked, leaning on Rio's shoulder. "This could be fun."

Koro-sensei chuckled ominously.

"Shall we push them together?"

* * *

Mitsuko dodged when Bitch-sensei threw a shoe at her. "Hey, calm down, you crazy bitch!!"

"You're the one messing up my hair!" Bitch-sensei yelled while Kataoka and Hara held up some clothes.

"I'm trying to _brush_ your hair," Mitsuko replied dryly, brandishing the hair-brush. "Like, seriously, get over yourself."

"Yeah, calm down, Professor Bitch," Hara said, raising a silk shawl. "We're trying to make you look nice."

"I already look nice!" Bitch-sensei snapped from her chair in front of the mirror.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, if you wanna hangout at the red-light district..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"Whatever." Mitsuko smiled brightly and started to brush her hair. "Just relax already."

Bitch-sensei glared at her. "I'm perfectly fine!" She crossed her arms. "I know what I'm doing."

"Of course you do," Kataoka remarked dryly, holding the outfit up to view. "I'm thinking of matching shoes?"

Hara hummed, rubbing her chin. "Maybe..."

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes, looking unimpressed.

Mitsuko sighed. "You know, you're being a bit hypocritical here considering how many lectures you've given to me for doing the same thing..."

The older woman scowled. "That's because you're a brat." She huffed, looking petulant. "This whole thing is ridiculous. I'm a professional, I don't need help with this sort of thing."

"Of course." Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "But you might want to entertain the possibility that you're out of your depth when it comes to Mr Karasuma."

Bitch-sensei scowl grew worse, slouching in her seat. "As if."

Mitsuko felt a growing fondness start to build in her chest, which is why it caught Bitch-sensei by surprise when she leaned over to wrap her arms around her shoulders in a brief hug. "You'll be fine."

Bitch-sensei went bright red with embarrassment. "W-what are you doing?!"

Mitsuko grinned, releasing her. "Just don't freeze up." She straightened up and ran the brush through the blonde's hair. "Even you can manage that."

The scowl was back when Bitch-sensei whacked her on the arm. "Shut up!"

* * *

Long story short, Bitch-sensei messed it up with Mr Karasuma.

Mitsuko sighed, stirring her coffee leisurely. "Well, geeze if I knew you'd be this bad out in the field I would have saved my time and never bothered with your mentoring."

"Shut your mouth!" Bitch-sensei snapped from across the table. "I'm the best there is."

"Oh, really?" She raised an eyebrow. "Well if those are the standards then the game must be running pretty dry."

Bitch-sensei slammed her fist on the table. "I'm not afraid to hit you in public, kid!"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the looks from the other customers in the café. "Whatever, just calm it down before we get kicked out."

"Hmf." Bitch-sensei scowled, taking a bite of her cake. "Besides, my advice is flawless." She pointed her dessert fork at her. "You just need to act on it before we all die by March."

Mitsuko sighed, resting her cheek in her palm. "I will..." She grimaced, poking at her food unappetisingly.

"Pfft, you better," Bitch-sensei said sternly, giving her a look. "Listen, you have all the intel you need, so I say you act now before school kicks in and things get more intense."

Mitsuko grumbled. "Hey, at least I haven't done some lame-ass speech about killing."

"It's foreplay, bitch!" Bitch-sensei hissed.

Mitsuko grimaced, looking down at her coffee. "I know I need to tell her, but it's just nerves."

"Yeah, well, you need to get over that," Bitch-sensei replied unhelpfully. "Show that confidence you keep claiming you have."

"I do have it," Mitsuko replied a little too defensively.

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes. "Right." She sighed, looking at her pointedly. "Look, kid, I'm going, to be honest with you for a minute," her voice lowered, causing Mitsuko to tense up. "You have a lot of potential, but you're never going to achieve it if you keep being afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Mitsuko's shoulders hunched up.

Bitch-sensei eyed her shrewdly. "Bottomline, you need to get passed it because your dad messed you up big time, kid."

She gritted her teeth, feeling a flare of spite. "You're one to talk. I always thought that daddy-kink had to come from somewhere?"

Something flashed in Bitch-sensei's eyes which made Mitsuko instantly regret what she'd said. "Well." The woman's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me for being honest."

Mitsuko scowled, swallowing a lump in her throat. "Yeah, well..." She felt her guilt grow. "I guess we're both screwed up..."

There was a long stretch of silence while Bitch-sensei leisurely ate her cake and sipped her tea.

"...Sorry," Mitsuko apologised quietly, looking at her reproachable.

Bitch-sensei stared at her for a moment before she shrugged. "You're lucky I don't take those things personally." She eyed her warily from behind her teacup. "But things at home, they're fine?"

"Yes," Mitsuko replied, drinking her coffee. "My brother is determined to spend every waking moment in the library until school starts, so what else is new? And my parents are...they're their usual selves." She sighed. "My dad's decided to see how long he can ignore me until school rolls around again, so everything's just _fine_."

Bitch-sensei drummed her fingers on the table. "Right."

"Yeah..." Mitsuko let out a deep breath, looking over at the window. "I just..." Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw a familiar round shape from the café window. "Uh..."

Koro-sensei was in his human disguise, standing on the street while he held up a sign saying;

_'Summer Festival! If you are free at 7 tonight, meet at Kunugigaoka Station!'_

"What the hell?" Bitch-sensei arched an eyebrow. "Is he seriously begging for more people to come?"

"It does fall in line with his usual behaviour," Mitsuko replied dryly, while Koro-sensei was chased off by an angry waiter. "Ritsu mentioned something about it earlier."

Bitch-sensei hummed, and then perked up all of a sudden. "Ooh! This is perfect!"

Mitsuko frowned. "Huh?"

"You can tell her at the festival." Bitch-sensei looked smug. "It'll be the perfect atmosphere and you'll look so cute in your kimonos."

"What?" Mitsuko tensed, shaking her head. "Oh, no, this is way too soon." She raised her arms. "I haven't even got anything planned."

"Oh, please, you've had months of planning." Bitch-sensei waved her hand dismissively. "Just remember our lessons and you'll be fine."

"...I'm not sure..."

Bitch-sensei groaned. "Oh, come on, kid, give me something to work with here." She gave her a stern look. "You haven't got long left so there's no better time than the present." She smirked. "Just stay confident, and you'll do great. Trust me on this."

Mitsuko chewed on her tongue, trying to smother her nerves. "Okay...okay, fine." She forced a smile. "I can do this, you're right."

"That's the spirit." Bitch-sensei smiled brightly. "Now, how about we head to your house and I give you a nice old-fashioned make-"

"No," Mitsuko interrupted, making her freeze. "It's okay, I can get ready on my own." She smiled politely. "You don't need to come round." She started to feel uneasy. "Besides my mom will be home so it'd be a little awkward if my teacher suddenly showed up, right?"

"Uh." Bitch-sensei's smile wavered. "Well, okay."

Mitsuko smiled to diffuse the tension. "I should go anyway." She hastily fished out some money. "Here this should cover my side of the bill."

Bitch-sensei stared at her curiously. "Forget it." She shrugged, smiling faintly. "I can well enough afford to cover your runt-ass." She sipped her drink. "Just consider this an I-O-U for the next time you want to mouth off."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, looking unsure. "Uh...okay." She placed the money back in her purse as she stood up. "Well, thanks."

Bitch-sensei nodded, smiling slyly. "Just remember to have fun, kid. You only go through puberty once."

* * *

Mitsuko took a deep breath, examining herself in the mirror as she smoothed out any wrinkles in her kimono; it was the purple one her mom had bought her last Christmas.

Ritsu popped up on her mobile screen. "Ooh! I'm so excited!" Digital fireworks went off in the background. "I've never been to a festival before."

Mitsuko smiled amusement, tying half of her hair up with a long hairpin. "They get boring after a while, but the food can be good."

Ritsu squealed. "Mimura says he'll help me record as much as I want."

"That's nice." Mitsuko picked up her mom's lipstick and delicately applied a layer. "Did you check Rio was definitely coming?"

"Yep," Ritsu confirmed. "She has some family stuff, about her grandma I think, so she might be a little late, though."

"Okay..." She felt her nerves threaten to simmer above the surface. "I think I'm...I'm ready to go."

"That's the right attitude!" Ritsu cheered. "You'll do great."

Mitsuko fiddled with her sash. "Yeah..." She smiled brightly. "You go on ahead. I'll grab a taxi there."

"Okay! I'll see you there," Ritsu replied happily before disappearing from the screen.

As soon as she was gone, Mitsuko clutched her stomach, collapsing onto her bed. "Fuck," she whispered, curling inwards. "I can't do this..." She closed her eyes tight. "I can't..."

_I have to do this!_

She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to sit up. "I _need_ to do this," she told herself, forcing her legs to straighten up and walk over to the door. "I can do this." She stared at herself in the mirror and repeated, "I can do this."

Mitsuko took a deep breath and adjusted her hair. She grabbed her bag from off the floor and headed downstairs, and when she was walking past the kitchen her mom had just finished off a shot of vodka.

"Oh..." Mitsuko paused when her mom caught sight of her. "Uh...I'm going out."

Mom was already dressed to go out on the town. "Alright then." She looked her up and down. "Who with?"

"Just some friends..."

"Hm. I see." Mom sighed, sliding the drink onto the counter as she grabbed her handbag. "Is your brother going?"

"No, he's staying late at the library," Mitsuko replied, shrugging uncomfortably.

Her mom sighed, rolling her eyes discreetly. "Of course he is." She clipped her bag shut. "Well, your father should be home by nine, so make sure you're back before then." She slid the bag over her shoulders. "And is that my lipstick?"

Mitsuko crossed her arms, shifting uneasily. "No."

Mom's eyes narrowed, taking out her keys. "Well, wipe it off." She unlocked the backdoor. "You're fifteen, remember?" she said derisively as she disappeared behind the door with a loud snap.

Mitsuko glared at the door even after it was closed. "Bitch," she muttered, touching her lips absently. "Shit..." She grimaced, lowering her hand.

_It'll be fine...just fine..._

She chewed on her nail anxiously, sitting down at the table.

_It was already 7:15 pm, the others would be at the fair._

Mitsuko swallowed, wiping her hands on her kimono when they got clammy.

"Don't be stupid," she muttered, rubbing her arms. "It's fine..."

She sighed quietly, looking around the kitchen until her gaze rested on the still very much full bottle of spirits resting on the counter.

* * *

"Wow, we're really bleeding these stalls dry," Mitsuko commented while she and Sugaya wandered through the fair with an armful of prizes.

Sugaya looked quite pleased with his new paint set. "Who knew assassination could be so multi-purpose."

She hummed, smiling placidly, as her nerves settled under a layer of warmth only the vodka could bring. "Wonder when they'll kick us out."

Sugaya grinned. "Hopefully not until I win at that game console game!" He looked around eagerly. "I wanna try the basketball game again."

Mitsuko smiled. "Sounds fun." She adjusted the pink rabbit under her arms. "I think I'll just settle for some cotton candy."

"Suit yourself," he said, grinning as he hurried off to the next stall where Kimura was already standing.

She sighed, leaning against a lamppost when her legs felt wobbly. "Where is she?" she mumbled, looking around warily when she couldn't find Rio.

_Was Rio even coming?_

Mitsuko grimaced and discreetly took a sip from the bottle in her bag. It burned her throat pleasantly and calmed her nerves a little.

She straightened up and started to wander around for a while longer, trying to practice what she'd say to her when she saw her.

_I just need to play it cool and be honest. Just be honest._

She walked to the edge of the festival and sat down on a wall that overlooked a field, dumping her prizes and the stuffed bunny next to her.

_Just be honest about how she makes feel. Like everything's okay, and how much she means to me, and that sometimes when I think about her it's like everything is how it should be. And I'm not asking for much, like just a few dates, maybe holding hands._

Mitsuko took a large gulp from the bottle and wiped her mouth when some of it leaked out.

_And, if it's okay with her, we could go places, or I could sleepover. It would nice, and we wouldn't have to kiss or do anything, we'd just spend time together and everything would be amazing..._

She smiled to herself, sighing quietly as she slipped the bottle back into her bag.

_And is it okay if I kiss you? Because, I really want to kiss you..._

"Mitsuko?"

She nearly fell over when she stood up too quickly.

Rio raised an eyebrow from where she was standing, dressed in jeans and a flowery top. "Uh, you okay?"

"Yes," Mitsuko replied quickly, adjusting her bag. "Um, I was worried you weren't coming."

Rio shrugged. "I had family stuff." She smiled brightly. "Come on, I think the stalls are still open, we should—"

"Can we wait here for a sec, actually?" Mitsuko interrupted quickly, feeling her heart thrum fast against her ribcage. "I, uh...I just wanted to talk about something."

Rio frowned faintly. "Oh." Then she shrugged again. "Yeah, sure." She walked closer and then stopped, sniffing the air. "Wait..." Her eyes widened. "Have you been drinking?"

Mitsuko blinked slowly, clutching her bag tight. "Uh...um. Maybe, m-maybe a little."

Rio looked at her in alarm, clutching her upper arm right. "What the hell, Mitsuko?"

Her nerves spiked like a rash. "I-It was just a little—come on, it's not like we haven't snuck a drink before? Remember when we had that sleepover last year?"

Rio grimaced, looking away. "Well, yeah, but..."

"I'm fine," Mitsuko insisted, leaning in closer. "I'm sorry. I was just nervous. I-I just wanted to calm down, you know how I can get."

Rio still didn't look pleased still. "Yeah, but how much did you drink?"

"Not that much," she mumbled, starting to feel self-conscious. "Why, do I smell?"

"No, not really..." Rio replied quietly. "Just sit down, okay."

Mitsuko sat back down on the wall, moving in closer when Rio placed an arm around her. "I'm sorry, I just...I just really need to...I really need to tell you something."

"Okay," Rio replied slowly. "What is it?"

She wiped her hands repeatedly on the skirt of her kimono when her palms wouldn't stop sweating. "Well, I really..."

"Hey, it's okay." Rio placed a hand over hers. "Don't get worked up."

Mitsuko felt a swell of affection, looking up when Rio smiled at her reassuringly, and everything buzzed like electricity. It was like everything was so clear and focussed.

She grabbed Rio's from the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss.

Then everything was on fire like she'd ever felt before and in the background she could hear the fireworks going off.

Rio leaned in and softened the kiss and everything was, it was...

Then suddenly she pulled away. "Wait." Rio shook her head, looking lost. "I...You're way too drunk." She stood up like she'd been frightened. "This is...this..."

"No, it's okay!" Mitsuko felt a rise of panic, grabbing Rio's wrist. "I want to kiss you because I love you!"

Rio's eyes widened like saucers. "W-what?"

Mitsuko's legs shook. "I...I mean, I love...I love you, Rio." She swallowed a thick lump in her throat. "I-I love you because...because you make everything amazing when you're there." She squeezed her wrist tight. "And I want to be in a relationship with you. I want to be with you."

Rio was shaking slightly, pulling her hand away. "Mitsuko...just, just slow down for a sec, Okay?"

Mitsuko felt a creeping fear crawl up her spine. "Don't you...? You like me too, right?"

Rio was breathing a little too fast. "I do, I just don't know—"

"What do you mean, _you don't know_?!" Mitsuko snapped, eyes stinging from tears. The colour was fading from her cheeks when she felt an icy hold of panic curve its way inside. "How can you _not_ know?"

"It means I don't fucking know, Mitsuko!" Rio replied sharply, looking like a cornered animal. "Jesus, Christ! What the hell do you want me to say?"

_It should be obvious!_

"I love you too would be a start!" she yelled, tears trailing down her cheeks. "Do you not like girls either or...or is there just something wrong with me?"

"What?" Rio gaped in shock, rubbing her head. "No, I like girls, and I like you but—shit—just calm down, you're freaking me—"

Mitsuko tried to kiss her again, clinging on like she was a lifeline. The kiss was bruising and desperate, and when she pulled away Rio just looked more confused.

"Mitsuko, what did I just say?" Her voice was quiet and hurt. "You're acting crazy."

Mitsuko felt something in her chest break, everything started to hurt and turn to acid in her stomach as she backed away—which is when she saw Okajima, Kimura, Fuwa, and Mimura standing their just within of sight near the house that overlooked the field.

She felt insides freeze in horror when she saw them.

Rio looked over and tensed as well. "Oh, shit..."

Mitsuko backed further away, feeling her panic reach a new peak.

Okajima in the distance looked scared. "U-uh, sorry!!" He tossed his camera to Kimura. "We didn't see anything, we swear!"

"Not helping, idiot!" Fuwa scolded him.

Mitsuko choked back a sob and bolted away before they could say anything else, while Rio screamed after her.

_Stupid! Stupid!_

She tripped over her outfit in the grass, spilling her bag over into the mud. The glass bottle rolled out, along with her phone.

Mitsuko wiped her eyes roughly, trying to re-gather in the dark while flashes of the fireworks lit up the sky.

"Mitsuko, are you okay!?" Ritsu popped on her screen, looking worried. "Mitsuko, what—?"

"Shut up!" she screamed at the AI, wanting to curl up and cry. "You all ruined everything!" She shoved her house keys and purse back in her bag and then continued running until she got to the main road.

* * *

_You're such an idiot._

Mitsuko slammed the door behind her when she stumbled into the house. Her feet were swollen and caked with mud and dead grass, leaving a nasty stain on the polished wood of the hallway.

Her chest and stomach ached like she'd been gutted and then had everything stuffed back inside.

_So stupid._

Her throat closed up as she choked back the tears and stumbled upstairs, trying to get to her room. The farthest she got was the hallway before she had to do a beeline to the bathroom when she felt a familiar burn in her throat, which almost felt comforting.

Mitsuko wretched into the toilet as she sobbed, clinging to the ceramic seat.

_Yes, the vodka had been an awful idea._

She panted, spitting into the toilet. Her gaze shifted to the door when she heard a familiar set of footsteps and then saw a pair of expensive shoes from the corner of her eye.

"Mitsuko?" The Principal sounded different from his usual self.

Her gaze narrowed. "Go away!"

She tried to kick the door closed but it barely budged as the Principal walked over.

"What have you done?" His voice sharpened, bending down.

She felt a rush of hatred fill her and tried to kick him. "Leave me alone!!"

"Enough." He grabbed her foot, making her struggle. "Are you drunk?"

_He has the audacity to sound concerned?!_

Mitsuko lashed out at him, wrenching her leg free. "I hate you!" She grabbed the nearest object, a bar of soap, and threw it at him. "Just leave me alone!!"

The soap missed. "That's enough!" He raised his voice a fraction, grabbing her arm roughly. "Stop it."

She tried to yank her arm free but he wouldn't let go, the more she fought the more the tears came. "I hate you! I _hate_ you!!" She tried to kick him in the face with her foot, but he kept blocking it.

The Principal held her arm in place for a while as she cried herself into exhaustion and stopped trying to attack him.

"What did you drink, Mitsuko?" His voice cut through her sniffling and crying. " _Mitsuko_?"

Her cheeks were soaked with salty tears and her breathing was ragged. "Why do you care?" Her voice was rough and quiet, wrenching her arm free when his grip slackened. "You were right." She wiped her eyes, trying to clear away the tears. "I'm not strong, I'm just..." She closed her eyes tight and brought her knees to her chin. "I'm useless..."

Mitsuko held herself tighter, feeling a chill as her breathing strained.

_I'm useless._

She blinked rapidly as the tears clouded up her vision. It hurt to breathe, like she was pressing a weight to her chest each time.

_Useless_

She didn't know how long she stared at her knees for, stuck in her own misery, she even forgot the Principal was there until she felt a hand start to pet her head soothingly.

Mitsuko froze, lifting her gaze up in alarm, but the Principal's face was passive, not emotionless or mocking but just...normal.

"Calm down." His voice was smooth and low.

She made a pitiful noise as she leaned into his palm ever so slightly, finding comfort in the hand petting her head. Her hand clung to his sleeve, trying to find some anchor to steady herself again.

"How much did you drink, Mitsuko?" he repeated the questioned quieter this time.

She tensed when his gaze locked onto hers, opening and closing her mouth. "I..." She swallowed. "A bottle of vodka..."

His gaze narrowed. "Your mother's?"

Mitsuko looked down. "I took it when she left..." Her leg trembled from nerves. "I was nervous...so I...I just..."

He sighed in disappointment, silencing her.

"This was your classmates doing, wasn't it?" His voice was cold, and there was a strange protective anger in his gaze.

_He's acting strangely...fatherly._

It was terrifying.

Her stomach twisted. "No, it's my fault...they didn't...she just...she..."

" _She_?" he repeated lightly, staring at her intently.

Mitsuko shivered when she realised she'd made a mistake. "I..."

His gaze bore into hers for another moment until his eyes narrowed in understanding. "Nakamura?"

Mitsuko's eyes widened as her throat seized up. "No, no, it's not..." She shook her head, backing away in fear. "I'm not—"

"It's alright." His voice was unnaturally comforting. "This is why I tried to warn you." Her father smiled. "You deserve so much better."

She felt ice cold. "You k-knew I..."

He raised an eyebrow. "It was fairly obvious." His gaze scanned her face, probably taking in just how much of a state she must have looked. He removed his hand from her head to take the handkerchief from his suit's pocket. "And I told you, you're too young to be wearing this."

Mitsuko flinched when he wiped the lipstick off her mouth with the small silk cloth, curling her arms around herself. "How long have you known?"

"Oh, a while," he replied gently, drying the tears under her eyes. "That's why I advised against your renewed friendship, I knew it would end like this."

"And you don't care that...?" She hid her hands under her arms to stop them from trembling. "That I like..." She cringed, trying to force herself to say it. "...I like girls."

He stared at her blankly, folding away the handkerchief when he'd dried most of the tears. "Your sexual preferences have never been a concern of mine."

Her cheeks burned red, averting her gaze, but at the same time she felt a small swell of relief.

"Does mom—?"

"Not that I'm aware of," he replied lightly, watching her for a moment. "I wouldn't recommend telling her."

"Why?" her voice was quiet again.

He looked at her like it should be obvious why. "I assume this is all a result of confessing your feelings to the Nakamura girl?"

Mitsuko felt shame grow and fester in her stomach. "...I kissed her," her voice was tiny and barely above a whisper.

"Oh, Mitsuko." Her father sighed, shaking his head as he wiped away a stray tear he'd missed from her cheek with his thumb. "Why would you do that?"

She shivered. "Because...Because I love her." Her voice hitched in the middle. "I _love_ her, dad, and...I want to be happy with her."

Her father retracted his hand. "Happy?"

She nodded, pressing her back against the bath as she sat up. "Yes."

"But she doesn't love you, does she?" he said lightly, making her wince.

She looked down, starting to feel numb. "I...I think she might..."

His gaze shifted to something colder and more detached. " _Might?_ Are you really hinging all your feeling on the hopes she _might_ like you?"

Mitsuko felt her insides twist, feeling small as she hunched her shoulders and lowered her gaze further. "...I just want her to love me, dad, and I..." Her eyes brimmed with fresh new tears. "I messed everything up. I was so s-stupid, and I-I yelled at her." She wiped her cheeks with her muddy kimono sleeve. "And she was upset, and I shouldn't have..." Another choked sob burst from her throat. "I-I think there's something wrong with me-"

“Ssh, that’s enough,” he shushed her gently, cupping her cheek. “Calm down.” The sob came out broken as he vision blurred up again. “Mitsuko, look at me.” She cringed and apprehensively looked back up. His gaze was blank and cold as he placed his palm on her head. "…Stand up, Mitsuko," he said gently. "There's something you need to see."

"What are you...?" She stared at him as he stood up.

"Stand up."

Her eyes widened as she held the edge of the bath to push herself up.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards the mirror.

She cringed when she saw how much of a mess she was. Her hair was untidy, whatever was left of her make-up was ruined and soaked from her tears, and her eyes were red and puffy.

She looked away, letting out a shallow breath.

_Pathetic._

"Do you see what _she's_ done to you?" he asked her softly. "Your reliance on others is a weakness." He held her jaw and forced her to look back at the mirror. _"Look."_

"Stop it..." She whispered, closing her eyes tight.

"E Class, Nakamura, your brother. You'll never reach your full potential if you allow them to hold you back."

_Stop it!!_

Mitsuko shook her head and moved out of his grip. "They're not holding me back!" She found her voice again.

He gave her a hard stare. "Then why are you the one sobbing on the floor?"

She recoiled, stepping back. "You're just trying to turn me against them."

He sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "Everything I have and will do, is to make you strong, Mitsuko," he told her firmly, stepping forward. "I know I've been... _harsh_ , at times." He reached out and stroked some loose hair out of her eyes, making her cringe and turn her face away. "But...a teacher has to sometimes push their students so they can grow."

It was the same lesson he'd repeated throughout her childhood.

 _He's doing this because he cares_ , is what she'd always tell herself whenever she doubted.

But, Koro-sensei was right, what he was doing was wrong and he was manipulative, even when being kind. She couldn't trust him.

"You're wrong," she said, taking a step back until she hit the wall. "Koro-sensei says—"

"Koro-sensei is going to be responsible for the deaths of everyone on his planet if he isn't dealt with," he interrupted gently, stepping closer. "And you still trust him?"

Mitsuko tensed, wrapping her arms around herself. "Y-you're still wrong." She forced herself to speak. "You're just manipulating me. You're just saying...you're saying..."

"I'm telling you the _truth_ , Mitsuko." He stroked her hair back despite the flinch she gave. "I tried to warn you about Nakamura but you chose not to listen." He raised an eyebrow. "I've always tried to teach you to make _better_ decisions, but time and time again you've ignored me."

_He's right._

_He's wrong._

She closed her eyes as she cringed, feeling like she'd vomit again and again.

"Come with me," he said lightly, placing a hand on her shoulder, which made her jump slightly.

Mitsuko didn't move, but he just waited for her to respond instead of threatening her.

_He's being so patient and...kind._

It had to be a trick, but she wanted to believe that... he was still her father, he did love her, he did care. _He did._

Her legs started to move and soon she was following him to his office.

She waited by the door, hugging herself for comfort as he walked over to his desk and took something out of a drawer.

"What's that?" she asked warily.

He leant on the desk and held up the sheet of paper. "A transfer form to A-Class."

"What?" Her brow furrowed, staring at the form.

He placed the sheet on the desk, straitening it slightly. "I debated leaving you in E Class, I'll admit, but even I'm not that cruel." Her dad looked at her pointedly. "Do any of them _really_ value you, Mitsuko?" He walked over. "Always in the background. Even Gakushuu doesn't really appreciate you, does he?"

Her chest tightened painfully. "Don't try to turn us against each other."

"Then can you honestly say I'm lying?" he asked.

Mitsuko looked down, feeling sick. "Gakushuu loves me, and E Class, they...they're my friends."

"Oh, I'm sure they are," he replied, nodding. "I'm sure they're always kind and _inclusive_."

Her stomach twisted. "...They...they care about me..." her voice wavered.

_They risked their lives to save me... well, not just me...it was more to save everyone..._

_No, stop it! Just stop it!_

Her eyes pricked with new tears again, but she willed them back. "Why should I even listen to you?"

"Because I see _all_ your potential, Mitsuko." He gently lifted her chin up a fraction so he could look her in the eye. "You could achieve _so much_ , if you stopped relying on others like a crutch." He smiled softly. "Gakushuu doesn't respect that, and neither does Nakamura, does she?"

That felt like a knife through her ribcage.

_So needy._

_So weak._

Mitsuko choked back a sob as her face crumbled and a few tears slid down her cheek.

"Look how emotional you are." He sighed, cupping her cheek as he used his thumb to wipe away the incoming tears. "Unruly behaviour, neglecting your studies. I assumed I'd taught you better than that."

She felt an overwhelming weight of shame drag her down, and made her want to pull her own hair out in disgust.

_What was I thinking?!_

Her skin itched and recoiled, making her want to scratch and pick it off until whatever was wrong with her was scraped and removed.

She was a mess and she was amazed her dad could even stand to comfort her.

_Gakushuu would be disgusted._

_Everyone is disgusted!_

"I-I'm sorry." She lowered her head, feeling a sharp pain in her throat.

"This is how those _friends_ of yours want you." He held her jaw gently as the tears wet his hand.

_He's right._

_No, he's not!_

Mitsuko tried to will the tears back, but it was like trying to close a fresh wound that her dad kept prodding.

_Stop crying!_

She pulled away and harshly wiped her face dry, rubbing too hard on her cheeks. "I'm sorry..."

"If you fail to climb above the weak, you'll be lost beneath them, Mitsuko," he told her, looking meaningfully at the transfer sheet on his desk. "And all that potential is gone."

Her hands curled into fists. "I can't just leave, they're still my friends...well, maybe not all of them but..."

"And, did your _friends_ check you were all right in your distressed state?" he asked coldly.

Her skin crawled, feeling sick. "I...I ran off too quick. They would have if I hadn't...I dropped my phone."

_The phone that doesn't even have more than a dozen contacts in in it._

_But Ritsu...Ritsu wasn't even real._

_Would the rest of E Class even want to still be friends after this?_

_They won't care...well, Terasaka and a few others might..._

Mitsuko clenched her fists tighter.

_It would make the girls uncomfortable._

_No, no I'm being overdramatic._

"They won't care that I kissed her," she tried to argue. "It doesn't change anything..."

He smiled tenderly. "Do you really believe that, Mitsuko?"

A lump started to form in her throat.

_Who am I kidding? Everything will be different now._

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've always known you'd struggle in life, Mitsuko, that's why I've pushed you so hard," he reminded her softly. "You're _different_ and society will do whatever it takes to crush that part of you that it deems inappropriate." His gaze narrowed when her eyes watered. "They will attack you at the slightest sign of weakness. No one will save you and no one will help you, you will be on your own. Do you understand?"

"Yes, dad..." Mitsuko felt a weight on her shoulders, stripping away at whatever resolve she had left.

_He was right._

_He was a complete bastard, but he was still right._

She couldn't rely on Gakushuu to protect her anymore...

"People will hate you for what you are." His gaze shifted to something softer. "I want you to be strong enough to crush them. Don't you want that too, Mitsuko?"

Her hands shook and her voice bordered on desperate. "More than anything."

_He's doing this because he loves me._

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, forcing her tears back.

"The world may end in a year," he said lightly, clasping his hands behind his back. "The choice of where you'll be by that year's end is entirely yours."

She followed his gaze back towards the desk where the transfer form lay.

There was a long stretch of silence.

Mitsuko's hands shook faintly as she stared ahead, while her dad stepped behind her and waited.

She wasn't sure when she started to walk towards the desk, but she remembers feeling in a haze when her dad handed her the pen to sign the form. 


	22. What the hell do you think you're doing?

Like clockwork, her alarm went off in the morning, stirring her awake with its persistent ringing. She smacked her hand down on the snooze button.

Her whole mouth tasted revolting and her throat was bone dry. Mitsuko curled herself as small as possible underneath her covers, when the memories of last night came flooding back.

She gritted her teeth, burying her face in the pillow and didn't move for a long while, wishing the whole thing had just been a bad dream.

There were some noises, shuffling from outside which meant the rest of her family was awake and going about their daily routine.

Mitsuko peaked from underneath the covers and saw her uniform laid out, making her cringe and pull the covers back over.

_I'm going to be late if I don't get up. So just get up._

_Get up, Mitsuko!_

She let out a groan of frustration.

_Shit._

A few more minutes passed until there was a knock at the door.

"...Can I come in?" Gakushuu's voice was oddly hesitant.

Mitsuko grimaced, curling her arms around herself tighter. "...Yes."

She could hear the door open and then close when he stepped into the room.

There was a short pause. "We're going to be late."

Mitsuko cringed and pulled the covers further over her head like a cocoon. "Leave me alone."

Gakushuu sighed loudly and walked over, causing the bed to dip when he sat down. "The Principal told me what happened." She stayed quiet, swallowing a lump in her throat. "...Are you...alright?"

She blinked back tears, smothering her face in her pillow. " _No._ " She brought her knees up to her chin. "I'm not." She felt her earlier shame return, wiping her tears with her palm. "So did he tell you everything?"

"Yes." There was another sigh, quieter this time. "Now will you stop being dramatic and actually _look_ at me – you can't hide forever."

Mitsuko didn't move for a while, closing her eyes tightly as she worked up the nerve. She sighed and pushed the covers away, looking at her brother directly. Unsurprisingly he was already showered and dressed for school.

"I didn't plan on getting drunk..." she muttered, bringing her knees to her chin protectively.

Gakushuu grimaced, letting out a deep breath. "Yes, well, since mom was crying this morning I assumed she shared some of the blame."

She winced. "She was crying?"

"Why did you even drink the vodka?" he asked impatiently, ignoring the question.

Mitsuko shifted uneasily, looking away. "I was nervous..."

"Being nervous isn't an excuse, Mitsuko," he told her firmly, narrowing his gaze. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

She felt a spark of irritation. "I'm not an idiot, Gakushuu..."

"Then don't do stupid things like this," his voice sharpened, making her flinch. "...Look, I'm only saying this because..." He grimaced, looking uncomfortable. "I don't want you to end up like..."

_Like mom?_

Mitsuko sighed, watching his unease grow. "I'm sorry. You're right, it was stupid." She closed her eyes and curled her arms around herself tighter. "And now everyone in the class knows, and Rio..."

"Don't let them do this to you," Gakushuu said firmly, causing her to glance up. "None of them matter, especially now." A small smile broke onto his face. "You made the right decision signing that form."

She felt low, wanting to hide under the covers again. "You really think so?"

"Of course," he replied, touching her shoulder reassuringly. "Now things can go back to how they're _supposed_ to be." His smile wavered faintly when he looked her over. "Don't even think about Nakamura, she doesn't deserve it." He slipped off the bed. "We'll talk later, but right now you need to get ready. We can't be late, especially today, it'll ruin everything."

"Okay..." Mitsuko nodded numbly, but then frowned, looking up. "Wait, what would it ruin?"

His smile twisted faintly into a smirk. "Well, let's just say you're not the only one joining A-Class."

She sat up straighter. "What?"

He shrugged, stepping back. "I'll explain at school." He made his way over to the door. "Just focus on getting ready otherwise you'll need to grab breakfast on the go."

"But..." She trailed off when he ignored her and closed the door behind. "Fine." She sighed, kicking the covers away. "Be weird about it then." Mitsuko planted her feet on the ground and took a moment to mentally motivate herself to stand up. "I can do this," she mumbled, letting out a deep breath before she stood up and wandered over to her desk.

Her hand hovered over her laptop, thinking of Ritsu and wondering how she was feeling right now. She was probably worried, searching frantically every camera or internet connection she could get her digital mind on...

Mitsuko curled her hand into a fist and moved away.

_Or maybe I'm giving her too much credit...she was the one who kept encouraging me to tell Rio how I felt. Just like Bitch-sensei, Karma, and Sugaya._

She tasted something bitter in her mouth.

_Was it all just a joke to them?_

The thought stung for a moment, fresh and spiteful.

* * *

"Don't drag your feet," Gakushuu whispered when they entered the stage from the back.

Mitsuko's insides curled, staring at the stage. "You never said anything about this..."

"It's not like you have to say anything," he told her, looking around. "The Principal already has someone else in mind..."

She tensed, crossing her arms. "And who exactly would that be?"

The corner of Gakushuu's lips twitched upwards. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Gakushuu," she growled.

He smirked, checking the time on his phone. "Look, the plan was already in operation before you decided to come back."

Her gaze narrowed. "What plan?"

"Uh..."

The two of them turned around towards the stairs.

Mitsuko's eyes widened. "Takebayashi?!" She stared at him in disbelief. "Wait...what are...?"

"Mitsuko?" Takebayashi adjusted his glasses he approached them, a slight apprehension in his step. "Why are you here?"

Gakushuu smiled pleasantly. "She'll be joining you in Class A."

"Oh..."Takebayashi frowned at her. "I see."

"The students have already started coming in, you should prepare yourself." Her brother's smile twitched faintly, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "This is your moment to prove to them just how strong you are, Takebayashi-kun."

Mitsuko scrutinised her brother warily as Takebayashi nodded. "Gakushuu..."

Her brother patted Takebayashi on the back and pushed him towards the entrance of the stage. Then he turned away and walked over to her, looking very satisfied. "Is there a problem?"

She gritted her teeth. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed, feeling her temper build. "How many times do I have to tell you not to involve other people in your and dad's pissing contest?"

"Mind your tone." Gakushuu's smile turned into a scowl, taking her hand to move further out of ear-shot. "And this is about crushing E Class." He shrugged. "Something Takebayashi was more than willing to do without hesitation."

Mitsuko's gut gave a horrible twist. "Why would he want to do that? He has nothing against them..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe you just don't know him as well as you thought." Then he sighed. "Besides, how many times do I have to tell you that they're not your problem anymore?" he questioned. Her brow furrowed. "You can either spend the rest of the year wallowing in self-pity because Nakamura rejected you, or you can rise above it and show them just how strong you are."

Mitsuko felt a sting at his words, glaring. "...I'm not wallowing in self-pity." The sting worsened when she heard more and more students come in. "I just need more time to...adjust."

He sighed deeply. "Well, you better adjust quickly because the Principal expects you on that stage as well." 

She cringed, smothering a rise of panic. 

This should have been expected, there was no way the Principal wouldn't want to rub it in Koro-sensei's face...and it was too late to...

Mitsuko let out a deep breath, forcing those thoughts away. 

_What was done was done, there was no going back now._

"Okay," she replied.

"He wants to speak with you afterwards also." Concern flashed in Gakushuu's eyes briefly when he looked at her. "So be on guard."

She rubbed her arms when she felt a chill. "What else is new?" She stared at Takebayashi, feeling a protectiveness start to grow. "I expect a full explanation on just what exactly you're planning with him..."

"And you'll get one." Her brother raised an eyebrow, glancing back at the other boy as Araki walked on stage to make a speech. "In all honesty, I think the Principal is really losing it if he thinks that bookworm should even qualify to be in A Class."

Mitsuko grimaced at his comment, but couldn't help but agree with it a little. No one in E Class would be able to last in A Class, and she was pretty sure none of them would want to.

_But I do?_

A niggle of doubt stayed at the back of her head, even if she was trying her best to ignore it.

"Starting today, Class 3-A will be adding two new members to their ranks," Araki's voice boomed from the mic.

Mitsuko swallowed her guilt, taking a few cautious steps forward.

_I can't just spend my entire life trailing after Gakushuu or Rio...something has to give so maybe...maybe this is all for the best._

Gakushuu plastered on another smile and walked over to Takebayashi, taking out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"However, with both their diligent efforts they have received excellent grades and have earned the permission to return to the main campus building!" Araki announced from the stage.

_It wasn't like I was really growing stronger in E Class..._

Her arms wrapped around her stomach, feeling nauseous.

_Why does this have to be so hard?_

_Shit. I shouldn't even care so much._

Asano smirked and held up the piece of paper. "Now, it's your turn." Another hand took the paper. "Go tell them." His smirk grew, as he leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Well then, let us hear their words of joy!"

Takebayashi glanced at her with some concern and hesitation, before he looked back at the stage and took a step forward.

Mitsuko couldn't bring herself to follow straight away, feeling cold.

Her brother looked her over briefly, and then gently squeezed her shoulder. "You can do this," he encouraged quietly. "You can't let her win."

Mitsuko let out a shallow breath, blinking back tears as she composed herself, and then nodded. 

She nearly choked when her brother gave her a small push towards the stage. Her legs felt stiff when she walked over to Takebayashi, the stage lights burned her skin more harshly the stares she was being given.

When she looked at Takebayashi his brow was creased, watching her carefully.

The assembly hall was completely silent, and it took all her will to turn her gaze to where E Class was, where Rio was staring at her with wide confused eyes.

Mitsuko felt a rise of anger when she saw the confusion, wanting to scream at her, to scream at all of them that this was all their fault, that if they had done things differently she wouldn't have had to do this.

Takebayashi cleared his throat and unfolded the paper, reading from the carefully crafted speech, but she barely paid attention to what he was actually saying and kept her gaze trained on Rio.

The confusion in the blonde's gaze started to turn to something more heated and angry, eyes narrowing.

The humiliation from that night was raw still like they'd picked at the scab too much. It hurt and burned.

They had seen and now they _all_ no doubt knew , knowing Okajima's stupid inability to ot be a pervert about it. 

They'd seen her humiliate herself and she hated them for it.

Mitsuko bit down hard on the inside of her mouth, curling her hands into fists when she forced herself to look away from them when she felt the growing need to scream become unbearable.

* * *

"Now that wasn't so terrible was it?" Gakushuu asked lightly.

Mitsuko glared at him briefly. "Oh, yeah, it was just great," she replied flatly as the two of them walked down the hall together to the Principal's office. "Just what I needed after last night."

Her brother sighed. "You're upset about Takebayashi, I understand," he said coolly. "But, whatever sentimental feelings you have, a better buried. There's no time for moping."

She grimaced, keeping her gaze trained ahead. "You don't need to keep reminding me." They came to a stop in front of the main entrance to the office. "I'm working on it."

"Uh, hem."

They both turned their head towards the Principal's assistant who was standing diligently with a clipboard in hand.

"The Chairman only requested Asano-sama," the assistant said nasally.

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. "I'm aware." He looked back at her. "Remember what I said," he whispered, frowning.

Mitsuko felt her unease grow, nodding. "I will."

He hesitated for another second. "And if anything happens—"

"I'll be fine," she insisted, shooting him a look, smiling. "I'll see you later."

He looked annoyed but didn't push further and just nodded, glancing at the assistant with a faint scowl before he walked off.

Mitsuko sighed and shot a small smile at the assistant, one he returned meekly. 

The doors opened easily when she walked in, and the only thing that caught her off guard was Mr Karasuma already standing in the room.

"Sir?" she said warily, closing the door behind her.

The Principal smiled from his spot in his chair. "Ah, Mitsuko, I was worried you'd forgotten your way," he commented lightly, resting his chin in his palm. "I was just informing Mr Karasuma here he has nothing to worry about in terms of secrecy."

Mitsuko frowned, walking over to them. "Oh, yeah...that."

Mr Karasuma's lips were set in a stern line, watching her carefully. "I doubt there will any issues since you're both fully aware of the memory erasure procedure," he said evenly. "But be sure to not disclose any sensitive information to your new classmates."

"I understand." She nodded, folding her arms. "Thank you."

"If you have any questions regarding the terms, please contact me directly," Mr Karasuma advised, looking at her intently.

 _Or if you need help,_ she assumed was the silent agreement.

She smiled faintly, nodding again. "I'll keep that in mind." She swallowed, forcing a smile. "But, I think I'll be fine, so don't worry, Sir. I...I understand perfectly."

Mr Karasuma scrutinised her for a moment but then sighed, looking away. "Well, as long as that's clear, there shouldn't be anything else to discuss."

The Principal smiled serenely, turning away in his chair. "No, I think that will be all."

Mitsuko's smile faded quickly when Karasuma did a polite bow and turned around to leave. She met his gaze briefly as he walked passed, her fingers twitching to grab his arm to stop him from leaving, but she kept her arms folded and looked away quickly.

The door shut with a short snap, leaving them both in silence.

She stared at the back of the Principal's chair for a long while until she plucked up the nerve to walk closer to the desk.

"So..." she said, standing straighter. "What exactly did you want?" She scowled. "Or this just another chance to make me feel worse than I already do?"

"You regret your decision already?" He tilted his chair half-around, raising an eyebrow. "And here I thought you were showing promise."

"I don't regret it," she said defensively. "I just...It's just _hard_." She cringed the moment she said it, knowing he fully well wouldn't care for her whining.

_Stay on guard._

His gaze bore into her for a moment, turning his chair around fully. "Those feelings will pass, the stronger you grow," he said matter-of-factly. "So long as you really want to be one of the strong."

Mitsuko felt a bad taste in her mouth, trying to push the feelings away. "I do." She nodded, a small sickness creeping up as the feelings were forced down. "I don't want what happened last night to happen ever again..."

He hummed dismissively. "Well, just so there are no repeats, all alcoholic substances have been removed from the house." His gaze narrowed. "I trust I don't need to stress the importance as to why?"

Her shame grew. "No..." she replied quietly, feeling guiltier when her thoughts drifted to her mom. "What did you say to mom, anyway?" she asked, feeling her concern grow. "Gakushuu said she was crying..."

The Principal stared at her passively. "I simply told her in blunt terms that her behaviour as a mother was irresponsible and detrimental to her children's safety," he answered curtly, clasping his hands on his knee.

Mitsuko looked at him in alarm. "You can't just speak to her like that." She felt a wave of protective anger start to creep back in. "And it wasn't even her fault, she didn't know—"

"But she allowed easy access to a beverage which is illegal to minors," he interjected coldly, standing up. "Something that I suspect was not a one-off occurrence."

"And how the hell would you know?" she snapped without thinking. "Mom...mom tries the best she can with what she has."

The Principal stared down at her blankly. "I very much doubt she's doing her best..." He sighed deeply, shaking his head as he stood up. "If she was I wouldn't need to have that conversation in the first place. Or do you really believe she's truly being the best mother she can?"

She winced. "No...but..."

" _But_?" He arched a brow, walking towards her.

Mitsuko grimaced, feeling her argument shrivel up.

_Mom was anything but doing her best, if anything she was failing miserably and if it wasn't for Gakushuu a majority of our childhood would have been spent eating crappy meals and wearing unwashed clothes..._

A small part of her was even grateful the Principal was around to keep mom in line when she spiralled out of control. When things had gotten too much. There was stability in it...even if she wasn't fully sure if it was healthy.

Either way, whether she liked it or not, mom needed dad. That was just how things were and had to be.

"...You still shouldn't have made her cry," she muttered, avoiding his gaze.

"Your mother is known for her dramatics," he replied callously. "Regardless, it's nothing you need to concern yourself with. There are more pressing issues."

"Like the stunt you pulled today?" She eyed him warily. "...Why Takebayashi of all people?"

His lips curved into a smile. "He has the ambition to prove his strength, for himself and his family." He placed a hand on his chest. "He was very quick to sacrifice his friendships in E Class when the opportunity arose."

Mitsuko grimaced, wondering how much of that was really true. "But what are you going to make him do?"

The Principal looked her over, amused. "He'll be making another speech soon, on the school's anniversary." He half-shrugged. "Nothing too long, merely an explicit description of the outlandish behaviour in E Class."

"Outlandish behaviour?" Her face scrunched up in distaste.

"Well, I'd hardly call your classmates a good influence," he replied evenly.

Her thoughts drifted to Rio's crossdressing comments at the dinner and felt her cheeks grow pink, looking down. "They weren't all bad..."

_Okajima was definitely a pervert, and Terasaka wasn't exactly known for his logical nature, but they weren't all bad...sure, mabe they weren't normal but they were still good and..._

She stopped her train of thought there when she felt a lump in her throat. 

The Principal tilted his head curiously. "Well, I suppose if you don't count how they led you to humiliate yourself, then I suppose so," he commented lightly. She shifted away, feeling a hot burn in her chest. "Or am I simply assuming that they were the ones who pressured you into revealing your feelings to Nakamura?"

Mitsuko's jaw tightened, scowling. "You've proved your point..."

"Have I?" He smiled with contempt. "If that's the case then I expect no more objections concerning Takebayashi and any plans to keep E Class in their rightful place."

"Fine..." Mitsuko's gaze shifted down as she nodded, feeling a pit in her stomach, as everything started to weigh down heavier. It was becoming exhausting to the point she just wanted to go find a private place to cry until she'd fall asleep.

"These steps are only the beginning."

She startled when he touched her shoulder, looking up at him in surprise. "What...?"

He smiled faintly. "A leader has to make hard decisions, something you're finally beginning to understand." He started lightly petting the top of her head; she leaned in, finding some comfort in it. "Your brother doesn't understand what it's like to struggle as you have, and because of that, his leadership is flawed," her dad told her gently. "But you understand so much _more_ than he does, Mitsuko."

The pit in her stomach twisted into a shallow imitation of warmth, as the small insecure part of her she hated most, nearly teared up at the praise.

"Gakushuu is still a good leader..." she defended him almost instinctively, but then frowned, remembering his less than kind actions over the last few months.

Her dad hummed, amused, giving her head one last pat before turning away. "And I'm sure he must appreciate your loyalty _tremendously,"_ he remarked, walking back over to his desk. "That's all I wanted to discuss for today." He waved her off dismissively. "I'm sure you haven't forgotten the campus completely that you can't find your way out."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes a little, feeling something nag at the back of her head. "Right, sure..." She nodded and then wandered to the door while the Principal returned to his seat behind the desk.

_I'm sure he must appreciate your loyalty tremendously? Wow, so subtle._

She sighed, closing the door quietly behind her.

_...But he is right about Gakushuu, his leadership is flawed. Especially if he keeps making bets and being spiteful._

Mitsuko groaned, pausing to lean against the wall of the reception. The assistant wasn't at his desk so the room was empty, bar the small desk and the moving plant in the corner—

She did a double-take.

_Why is that plant moving?_

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, watching the rustling leaves for a moment before she apprehensively walked over to it.

The plant was in a large ceramic blue pot and was at least 48 inches high in total.

She stared at it a second longer before yanking the plant by the root.

"Ah!" Dirt sprayed out when Sugaya spluttered and closed his eyes. "Hey!" He rubbed dirt from his face and looked up at her with narrowed eyes. "Give me some warning next time."

Mitsuko felt a rush of mixed happiness which was soon smothered by anger. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"What _I'm_ doing?" Sugaya stared at her in disbelief as he struggled to lift himself out of the large pot. "How about we start with just what the hell do you think _you're_ doing?!" 


	23. I want to be important

Sugaya struggled to climb out of the plant pot while Mitsuko backed away slightly. "Like, seriously." He grunted, nearly tripping over. "What are you—whoa!" Her arms reached out when he fell forward.

"Careful," she hissed, steadying him before he fell flat on his face. "If my dad sees you he's gonna go crazy." She yanked him as he stumbled onto his feet. The plant pot fell and rolled on the carpet, scattering dirt everywhere. "What is wrong with you?"

Sugaya pulled his arm free, straightening up as he dusted himself off. His uniform had patches of dirt sprinkled over it and his black shoes were now an off-colour brown. "Well, I had to hide quickly. That secretary guy nearly saw me."

Mitsuko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Seriously?" She grabbed his arm. "Come on."

"Hey, not so hard," he complained as she dragged him along.

She ignored him until they were safely far enough from the office and just out of sight of the cameras. "You're such a moron!" she snapped, shoving him away.

Sugaya glared at her. "I'm not the one who decided to just go ahead and abandon everyone and then stand up and call E Class hell on earth."

Mitsuko fought back a cringe. "I never said anything."

"Yeah, you just stood by and let Takebayashi do all the talking— how long did you know about that"

"I only found out today, and he didn't even write that speech, it was Gakushuu's – I didn't even know about it until today." She gritted her teeth. "If you're just going to yell at me, then you can leave," she told him sharply. "You're not even meant to be here."

"Well, neither are you," Sugaya replied, frowning. "You're E Class, Mitsuko."

Her stomach gave a hard twist. "No, I'm not." She folded her arms, shifting uneasily. "Half the class doesn't even like me." Her brow furrowed, looking away. "I'm better off in A-Class, it's where I belong..."

"That's a load of crap," Sugaya replied bluntly. "You're one of us," he told her strongly. "Everyone in the class wants you back – You've even got Ritsu stressed."

"And Nakamura?" Something bitter crept in and made a lump form in her throat.

He froze up, faltering. "Uh..." Sugaya's frown grew. "Look, I don't know what happened—"

"Then why don't you ask Okajima, or Fuwa?" she said, narrowing her gaze. "I'm surprised they haven't blabbed it across the whole campus by now." She scowled. "Or maybe Nakamura beat them to it." Her eyes started to sting. "I don't see her here _begging_ me to come back, in fact come to think of it, if everyone's so determined to get me back then where the hell are they?!"

Sugaya winced, edging back a little. "They..." He hesitated. "They're still trying to wrap their heads around what you and Takebayashi did...it caught all of us off guard."

"I don't need you to make excuses for them, Sugaya," she said bitterly, scowling. "The only one who wants me back is you."

"Well, isn't that enough?" he stumbled a bit over his words. "We're meant to be friends."

She grimaced, feeling guiltier. "And we still are..." Even though she couldn't quite look him in the eye. "I just can't be in that class anymore, or anywhere near Nakamura, to be honest..."

"Dude..." His face kept switching from anger to something sad. "Look, I don't know the whole story of what went down between you two, but do you really want to leave everything behind just because of a girl?" He kept looking at her in confusion. "E Class might not be perfect, but we're a team—and just look at all the stuff we've done!"

Mitsuko shrugged back, feeling a chill. "I'm not cut out for that kind of stuff, Sugaya. I wasn't even useful enough to contribute properly." She grimaced. "You have your art, Okuda has her poisons, Nagisa has...whatever it is Nagisa has." She sighed. "And at least Terasaka contributed some muscle."

"You don't have to have some special talent to be in Class E, that's the whole point," Sugaya said firmly. "What are you even trading it for? You really want to be in a class full of assholes who wouldn't even look at you twice a few days ago."

"It's a lot more complicated than that," she replied, sighing. "I need to be stronger and Koro-sensei can't..." She cringed. "He can improve my grades but he can't fix what's really wrong with me, not properly."

Sugaya opened and then closing his mouth, hesitating. "Look, whatever the Principal said to you to convince you to leave, it's all just shit." He frowned at her. "It's not too late to come back."

Something that felt like regret ached inside her chest, causing her to curl her arms tighter around herself.

But she'd signed the form, and she'd stood there with Takebayashi, and if she left now the Principal would...

"It's not that easy," she told him, digging her fingers too hard into her arms.

He gritted his teeth, looking like he wanted to shake her. "You can't let your dad—"

"You're a little far from the Old Campus."

Both their heads snapped to the right where Gakushuu had appeared from around the corner.

He smiled at Mitsuko and then raised an eyebrow at Sugaya, looking over his rumpled and dirt-stained uniform with disdain. "In fact considering the time, you are technically skipping class." He casually walked over to Mitsuko's side. "Things might be slack in E Class, but here we do still abide by the basic rules."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Gakushuu, don't."

He gave her an annoyed glance, before looking back at Sugaya. "And you are getting dirt on the floor, so I recommend you leave before I have to deliver an appropriate punishment."

Sugaya glared at him. "Go right ahead, see how well it goes."

"Oh, really?" Gakushuu's voice grew cold, dropping the pretences.

Mitsuko sighed. "That's enough," she said firmly, shooting her brother a warning glare. "Gakushuu, can you please give us a minute."

Her brother gave her a harsh look. "We just discussed—"

 _"Yes_ , I know," she interjected impatiently, scowling. "So let me say goodbye."

Gakushuu stared at her warily for a moment but she kept her glare stubbornly in place, refusing to budge. He glanced at the clock above the hallway window. "...One minute," he told her frigidly, glowering at Sugaya briefly before walking around the corner to give them some kind of privacy.

Sugaya kept glaring at Gakushuu's retreating form until he was out of sight. "Prick."

"Stop it," Mitsuko chided, sighing in exasperation. "Listen, this is my decision and I can't change it. I'm sorry." She gave him a strained look. "If you don't want to be friends anymore, that's fine," she lied, feeling a pit in her stomach, stepping further back. "I'll understand and I wouldn't blame you."

"I'm not going to stop being friends with you just because you changed classes, Mitsuko," Sugaya replied, frowning. "And neither are the others." He glanced apprehensively over his shoulder where he knew Gakushuu was still within hearing distance. "Look, when you want to talk to me about what's really going on or if you just want to talk. I'll listen."

Mitsuko shifted on the spot, feeling like her insides were caving in. Her lips stayed firmly shut when she felt like screaming at him for being such an idiot, for being so stupidly loyal when she'd done nothing to deserve it.

_Idiot. Such an idiot._

"...Okay," she managed to get some words out. "You should get back before you get in trouble."

Sugaya looked like he wanted to argue, but he was interrupted by an impatient foot tapping. He scowled when he looked over his shoulder and saw Gakushuu leaning against the corner with his arms folded.

Mitsuko narrowed her gaze when she glanced at the clock and saw it had been exactly one minute.

_He was so petty sometimes..._

"...Just be careful," Sugaya said while he glared at Gakushuu. "And keep an eye on Takebayashi," he added, looking back at her with concern.

"I will." Mitsuko nodded, hesitating, she walked over to her brother. "Don't worry." She gave him a strained smile before following Gakushuu down the hall.

Sugaya grimaced, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Right."

* * *

Mitsuko paused for a long while staring at her old/new desk in A-Class while the other students started to pile in. She sighed after a moment and walked over to the window where the Old Campus could just about be seen above the thick woods.

She lowered her gaze down and sighed again. "Well, I guess I'm back..." Then she frowned when she saw the bushed below rustling excessively. "What the...?"

"They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Takebayashi spoke, standing beside her.

Mitsuko looked up. "They?" Then she scowled. "Oh..." She glanced back at the bushes and saw a small wisp of blue hair among the green shrubbery. "Well, Koro-sensei probably isn't helping."

"Did they stalk you yesterday as well?" he asked.

Her expression soured briefly. "No, they didn't." She tried to shrug it off, crossing her arms. "But since my brother wouldn't leave alone all day, I don't think they had the chance," she argued, hoping that was the case. "Sugaya tried though." Her expression softened. "It the stupidest way possible."

Takebayashi was silent for a moment. "...They just don't understand."

Mitsuko grimaced. "No...they don't."

"Are you ready for class, Takebayashi?" Kondo interrupted them. "I'm sure Class E's teacher was accommodating."

"But Class A's teacher moves fast, so don't fall behind," Aoi warned.

"Haha." Takebayashi smiled apprehensively. "You're making me nervous." He glanced at her. "Anything you should warn me about?"

_Do you want a list?_

Mitsuko stared at him grimly for a second before forcing a smile.

_He'd just have to learn the hard way if he wants to be in A-Class so bad._

"Not that I can think off," she replied brightly, making him frown.

"It's good to have you back, Asano-sama!" Satsuki said cheerfully as she sat down. "It's been way too crowded with all these boys."

Mitsuko smiled sweetly, sitting down. "I know right, I already feel like I'm surrounded."

"Mitsuko?" Takebayashi looked at her questionably.

"You'll be fine, Takebayashi." She unpacked her bag when she dropped it on the floor. "You wanted to be here so bad."

"You're finally able to return to the front stage," Gakushuu said pleasantly, pausing at Takebayashi's desk when he sat down. "I'm sure you'll be able to keep up, Takebayashi-kun." He smiled politely. "It'll be tough but let's work hard together, right?"

Takebayashi smiled hesitantly. "...Thanks, Asano-kun."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, giving her brother a look, to which he returned with a smile. "Hopefully you're not rusty, Mitsuko," he said pleasantly, barely hiding that smirk of his.

She obnoxiously clicked her pen. "I barely even remember leaving."

"That's the spirit," he replied, as he made his way back to his desk.

Mitsuko poised her pen ready when Mr Hisaya walked in; he'd gained more weight since she last saw him and his white beard was longer.

He didn't look like much, but when he started teaching—

The lesson began in seconds and she was caught off guard briefly like she'd been jolted with a shock.

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and sped her pen along her notebook as she took notes and tried to process her fast-talking teacher was explaining, which is why it took her another few seconds to realise Koro-sensei had already covered this last semester.

That made her pause, pen stuck at a half-finished calculation; there was an easier way to do this...

_I could just work it out the way Koro-sensei taught it..._

Her fingers tightened around the pen and stared at her notes for too long of a time.

_If I don't listen I'm going to get left behind again._

She gritted her teeth and dug her pen hard into the paper, forcing herself to take notes.

* * *

Mitsuko rubbed her sore wrist once the class was finished.

 _S_ he curled her fingers, staring at the notes she'd put. By the looks of it, most of the notes were unnecessary and could've been halved.

"Just a waste of paper," she murmured, closing her notebook.

"Hey, Mitsuko," Ren called her.

She glanced up and looked over at where Ren was with her brother's other friends. "Yes?"

"I'm having a party tomorrow night." He smiled sweetly. "You should come."

Seo looked annoyed. "When I said get girls I didn't mean..." he trailed off when he saw Gakushuu walk over to her. "Uh..."

Gakushuu noticed and smiled politely. "Didn't mean what, Seo?"

"Uh, nothing," Seo replied apprehensively, trying not to scowl.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and glanced at her brother. "Not in the party spirit, Gaku-nii?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm busy."

From the corner of her eye she saw Ren frown.

"Of course you are," Mitsuko replied, smiling slightly. "Surprised you even make time to eat."

He discreetly rolled his eyes and turned to Takebayashi.

"How's it going, Takebayashi-kun?" Gakushuu asked pleasantly. "Have you grown accustomed to the class?"

Takebayashi was caught off guard. "S-somewhat!?" he stammered, forcing a smile.

Her brother smiled politely. "This is sudden, but the Board Chairman is calling for you," he told him pleasantly. "You the hero who overcame adversity," his voice had an edge to it, making her frown. "It seems like you're needed."

"Did I do something wrong?" Takebayashi asked warily.

Gakushuu gave a hollow chuckle. "Oh, no. Quite the opposite in fact."

Mitsuko felt her skin prickled unpleasantly.

"Oh, okay then," Takebayashi replied, still looking rightfully suspicious.

"He wants you as well, Mitsuko," her brother added, glancing down at her. "Since you wanted to be kept in the loop."

She forced a polite smile. "Sounds great." She picked up her bag and stood up. "Best not to keep him waiting."

Takebayashi's brow furrowed faintly, looking between them both until they started heading to the Principal's office while he followed behind.

Mitsuko sighed, glancing out the windows when they passed, catching glimpses of the mountains.

"What does he even want me for?" she muttered to her brother as she walked alongside him. "He already had a good lecture to me yesterday."

"Just relax,"Gakushuu replied. "Getting worked up won't solve anything."

"That's easy for...wait..." Her eyes widened. "He hasn't told you either has he?"

The scowled that broke across his face was an answer enough, but it was gone when they'd reached the office.

"Looks like he's running late," he said, smiling again as they entered the empty office. "You probably shouldn't touch the items around there," Gakushuu warned him as they passed the shelves of awards. "Once there was a guy who broke the chairman's personal item. It seems like he was sent to E Class immediately."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "You and your urban myths." She flicked one of the glass awards out of spite. "I'm pretty sure he'd murder them more than anything."

Takebayashi looked at the, questionably. "You don't really think that do you?"

Both Mitsuko and Gakushuu paused to look at him incredulously.

Gakushuu gave a strained laugh. "No way, of course not."

"We're just joking," Mitsuko replied evenly, narrowing her eyes at the 'Educator of the year' award. "Of course he wouldn't do that. He'd probably just kick us out."

Takebayashi looked at them curiously as he walked passed the awards. "That's not something you two need to worry about, though?"

Gakushuu gave a strained laugh. "You think so?"

"Well, sending someone to E Class is one thing but expulsion..." Takebayashi glanced at Mitsuko who stared blankly back.

He smiled sharply. "The Chairman, doesn't hold back. Not even with his own children." His smile faded slightly when he gave Takebayashi a pointed look. "You have to keep your guard up against him, every day."

The other boy looked confused and also wary, staring at them both like he wanted it to all be a big joke.

Mitsuko gave him a grim smile. "You get used to it." She moved closer to her brother and nudged him slightly when his polite smile didn't return and he looked too deep in thought.

It seemed to knock him out of his thoughts when he glanced at her and saw her smile faintly. 

The Principal came in a second later. "My, I've kept you all waiting!"

Mitsuko saw her brother's eyes narrow, and she quickly squeezed his shoulder before turning around.

"Well, have a seat." The Principal smiled at them in his usual way while Takebayashi hesitantly sat down.

Mitsuko stood next to her brother and watched, feeling like she was watching a lamb preparing for slaughter.

"Tomorrow, is the date I opened the private school, it was the predecessor to this school," The Principal explained. "In commemoration of the anniversary of the establishment, we hold an assembly here." He smiled. "There, once again, I'd like you to present a speech before the entire school."

"A speech?" Takebayashi questioned.

"Asano-kun." The Principal gestured to his son. "Is the script complete?"

"Yes." Gakushuu handed him a piece of paper.

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched the paper being passed.

"Let's see." The Principal scanned the speech over. "Well, I suppose this will do. Take a look, Takebayashi-kun."

Takebayashi took the piece paper and started to read it, as she watched she noticed his hands start to shake.

Mitsuko looked over at her brother accusingly. "What did you write?" she whispered.

He shrugged. "Only facts."

Her eyes narrowed, unable to take much more of it, she marched over to Takebayashi and snatched the paper. "What's it even say?" she said bluntly, trying to ignore the dark look her dad was shooting her. "Wait..."

She felt a rotten taste on her tongue as she read the speech.

_They can't really expect him to read this?!_

"Quite blunt, I know," the Principal drawled, standing up. "Not your best work, Asano-kun," he remarked, earning a glare from his son. "But it will definitely cause a stir." He lightly plucked the speech from Mitsuko's grip and smiled faintly. "Don't you think?"

Mitsuko felt sick, backing away slightly. "But..."

Her dad looked down at Takebayashi and slipped the speech back into his hands as he came around the sofa. "You have yet to escape from being weak." He placed his hands on Takebayashi's shoulders. "This is a ceremony for you to step up and become strong, Takebayashi-kun," he spoke closely to smoothly in his ear. "If you aren't strong, your family won't look at you."

_You sick bastard._

Mitsuko curled her hands into fists, gritting her teeth hard. 

"If you read that at the assembly, I'll prepare a new role in the student body for you, of 'management committee chairman'," Said the Principal.

" _I rehabilitated my classmates in an entire class_ ," Gakushuu gave the tagline. "Forget about middle-school, this achievement would even echo out until high school. It'll even catch eyes on a recommendation for a first-rate university!"

She felt like smacking her brother.

"Yes, it will," The Principal agreed brightly. "And you'll be answering directly to Mitsuko, so a familiar face will be close by."

Both Mitsuko and Gakushuu froze while Takebayashi looked up in confusion.

"What?" she frowned.

"Excuse me?" Gakushuu's jaw clenched.

He chuckled. "Well, it only makes sense, after all. I've decided Mitsuko will be assisting in overseeing these sort of student managing matters, considering how busy I am recently."

"Overseeing?" she nearly choked, feeling like the rug had been pulled from under her feet. "What are you talking about?"

The Principal straightened up, adjusting his cuffs. "Well, the students council has their hands full as it is, so I think it's only logical to have someone handling the smaller projects."

_Smaller projects?_

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, on high alert. "And you trust me to do that?"

"I'd hardly call it trust." he remarked lightly. "Think of it as lightening the load from the council." He smiled at them both. "Takebayashi will answer to you just as Asano-kun will."

Her brother was seething; she could practically feel it coming off in waves.

"But she doesn't have the experience," Gakushuu was clearly struggling to keep his tone polite.

" _But_ she does deserve it." His tone was final, smile wavering briefly to give way to a frosted look. 

Gakushuu kept his mouth shut, jaw clenched so tight it might break.

Mitsuko stayed stock still, nearly shaking.

_I'm...he's going to make me a higher rank than Gakushuu?_

She quickly tried to brush the thought away because it was very dangerous and if she thought more on it she'd... she might even... _like it._

_He's finally noticing me!_

_No, stop it. Don't._

It felt like she was fighting with a small insecure childish voice inside of her she could never shut up. Her hands were shaking a little.

"This, is a ritual for you both to be reborn as one of the strong," The Principal said. "By ruling over your former friends, you will acquire the air of the strong."

Mitsuko watched him carefully, wondering if he'd be tempted too.

Takebayashi looked up at her, and she wasn't sure what he was expecting her to say or do. Maybe he was hoping someone would say it was wrong.

She felt her skin crawl and wanted to just leave, and she should say something.

Say something. Just tell him it's wrong.

Mitsuko opened her mouth but couldn't find the words to say. They'd both made their decisions and now they had to live with them. She closed her mouth and swallowed the rotten taste that had gathered.

After a moment, Takebayashi looked down and shakily stood up, folding the paper. "...I'll do it."

* * *

"It's really good to have you back, Mitsuko," Ren said while he ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, sure," Mitsuko replied dryly, walking down the path from school.

"Half of us weren't expecting you back so quickly," Koyama added.

"Uh, huh." She raised an eyebrow.

The two of them has insisted on walking her home, and by insisted, it was pretty much being dragged out of school by them when Gakushuu had made some excuse that he needed stay in the library for something.

_He's still angry._

Mitsuko hid a wince, holding her bag closer.

_It's not like I asked for the Principal to put me at a higher rank..._

_...I didn't need to ask, that's the point._

"So, Takebayashi seemed lost in class," Ren smirked. "Think he'll be able to handle it?"

"What? Oh, yeah." She shrugged, re-adjusting her bag. "He'll be fine."

Koyama snorted. "Oh, please, he'll be gone within a week."

"I doubt it." Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at him. "He didn't get 7th Place out of sheer luck."

Koyama scoffed. "Pfft, it's still unlikely."

"What, like your acne clearing up?" she remarked, making Ren laugh.

"It's not acne!" Koyama snapped, face flushed an ugly pink colour.

Ren smirked and swung an arm around her. "Oh, such spiteful words from such a fair maiden." He ruffled her hair. "See, this is why we've missed you."

"Glad I'm such a comic relief," Mitsuko muttered, sighing. "Why are we taking the long way anyway?"

Ren stretched, smiling brightly. "Oh, well, I thought it would be a good idea to go sing some karaoke!"

"Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it'll be cool."

"I said it was a stupid idea," Koyama commented, wrinkling his nose.

For once she agreed. "I'm not really in the mood for karaoke, Ren," she said, crossing her arms as they walked further towards the city. "I just want to go home..."

Ren looked genuinely confused and stopped. "But...it's karaoke?" He pointed at himself. "With _me_."

"Yes, but I." She pointed at herself. "Just want to go home."

"Oh, don't be like that." He slipped an arm over her shoulder and forced her to walk along. "It'll be fun. Besides, we can't let you walk home alone."

She looked annoyed. "Funny, I've been doing fine since primary school."

"Come on, it'll be fun," he kept insisting. "We're nearly there anyway."

Mitsuko dragged her feet the whole rest of the way to the karaoke bar, it was the usual place most students went to since it had an arcade attached.

"Can we hurry up and get this over with then," Koyama said, looking bored already when he saw the place.

"You guys need to chill," Ren replied, looking around until he saw some girls from another school by the karaoke bar. "All the hottest girls from different schools always come here." He smiled wryly. "Come on, I'll buy us some soda." He patted her on the back. "Raspberry still, right?"

The corner of her lips twitched upwards a bit that he remembered. "Yeah, thanks."

"Just get me some lemonade," Koyama told him curtly.

"Coming right up." Ren winked, leaving them alone.

There was small pause when Mitsuko exchanged an awkward look with Koyama. "So..."

A few seconds passed with Koyama staring at her with a blank look.

_Yeah, this isn't going anywhere._

"I'm going to the bathroom," Mitsuko said at the same time he said, "I'll help Ren carry the drinks."

They both turned and walked off in opposite directions.

Mitsuko sighed, walking through the arcade machines towards the girls bathroom.

"Mitsuko!"

She froze when she heard the distortedly chipped voice coming from close by.

"Huh?" She looked around at the colourful screens while a few kids ran by.

"Mitsuko!" Ritsu popped up on a racing game screen.

"Ritsu?" Mitsuko walked over to the game and rested her hands on the seat head-rest. "How did you get in here? Have you been stalking me?!"

"You never mind that!" Ritsu snapped, catching her by surprise. "Regardless of how many serves I had to jump through—"

"It's an arcade..."

"It was still hard!" she was defensive. "Regardless, none of it matters in comparison to, ONE!" She held up a finger. "Being yelled at and suddenly cut off." She held up a second finger. "TWO: Being completely being blind-sided by my best friend when she suddenly changes classes and starts claiming she hates E Class!"

_Best friend?_

Mitsuko frowned, but quickly brushed it off. "I yelled at you because telling Rio the truth ruined everything," she told her, feeling some bitterness seep out. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Nakamura won't talk about what happened, and Sugaya told me he tried to talk to you earlier," Ritsu said, sounding angry still. "I don't understand any of this – did Nakamura say something nasty, is that why you left E Class."

Mitsuko grimaced, looking away. "She..." She dug her nails into the leather of the head-rest. "She doesn't love me."

"What?" Ritsu looked confused. "Is that what she said? Maybe you just surprised her?" she argued. "If you talked it out, maybe then you'd be able to understand it together."

"She couldn't even look at me after I got on stage with Takebayashi," she replied quietly, feeling her gut twist.

"Then give her time." Ritsu looked at her pleadingly. "But don't give up. You can't just think we don't care about you, Mitsuko. You're our friend."

Mitsuko cringed, staring at the sticky floor. "Why do you all want to still be friends?" She sighed, growing tense. "I'm not a good friend."

"Yes, you-"

"No, I'm not," she interrupted. "I don't even feel bad about yelling at you and I'd let..." When she lifted her gaze up, Ritsu looked hurt. "I keep ruining everything and I keep wasting everyone's time." She sighed. "I just need to be alone for a while and fix whatever's wrong with me."

"But you don't have to do it alone!" Ritsu snapped, looking close to tears.

Mitsuko felt a swell of concern, moving closer to the screen. "Ritsu?"

The AI closed her eyes tight when she started to cry. "Your dad is not allowed to just strip away the parts that may you what you are, and he's not allowed to control you." She looked at her pleadingly. "I refused to let it happen to me, and you have to refuse too!"

Mitsuko's felt a sharp pain in her chest, touching the glass lightly. "Don't cry."

"Then don't do stupid things like this!" Ritsu shot back, sniffling as she wiped her eyes. "Just come back."

She pressed the tips of her fingers down harder. "I can't." She grimaced. "I made an agreement with him. He won't let me go back." Her hand slid away. "And Takebayashi..." She cringed, sitting down in the seat in front of the screen. "The Principal's horrible but...I think that's what I need so I can be stronger too, s-so I can learn."

Ritsu shook her head furiously. "No, that's not real learning!"

Mitsuko sighed. "Yes, it is, and every time I've gone against it things have just gotten worse..." She rubbed her arms. "And for the first time, it's like I'm being seen, like I'm _important_." Her eyes stung a little. "And I'm horrible for liking but...I want it so bad and I can't..." She wiped her eyes quickly when they watered a little. "I can't go back to being invisible." She looked at Ritsu pleadingly. "I can't go back."

Ritsu touched the screen, looking like she wanted to push through it. "Mitsuko, _please_..."

She couldn't take much more of this.

Mitsuko stood up, avoiding her gaze. "After tomorrow you're not even going to want to talk to me anyway..."

_It would be better that way._

"Wait!" Ritsu called after her when she walked away.

Mitsuko ignored her and kept walking towards the exit.

"Hey! I got the soda!" Ren held up two glasses when she walked passed. "Mitsuko?"

"I'm going home," she muttered when she passed.

"But the karaoke's free!" he argued. 

"Do it with Koyama!" she snapped impatiently over her shoulder as she left.

"But he sucks!" Ren yelled after her.

Koyama stopped sipping his lemonade and glared. "I'm right here, asshole!"


	24. Being Afraid

Mitsuko felt like she'd crack her jaw from how much she was gritting her teeth as she marched home.

The street lamps were slowly turning on as it got darker, while she was walked down an empty side street in-between some houses.

"Mitsuko..." a voice whispered as a breeze bristled her skin.

She froze. "What the...?"

"Mitsuko..."

She frowned and looked over her shoulder where Koro-sensei was hiding behind a street lamp pole while wearing a ninja costume.

_....WHAT?_

"Uh?" Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Sir...?"

"Ah!" Koro-sensei yelled. "I've been discovered!"

She sighed in exasperation. "What are you doing?"

Koro-sensei tiptoed over on his tentacles. "I was practising my stealth skills!"

"...Of course," she replied dryly. "Now, why are you really here?"

Koro-sensei hummed. "A simple check-up. You did leave quite suddenly."

Mitsuko grimaced. "It wasn't exactly planned."

"Not from your end, I'm sure." His was cold around the edges. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she replied quickly and then cringed, not even convinced herself. "...Or not, I guess. I don't know."

Koro-sensei nodded patiently, sitting down on a patch of grass near a fence. "Tell me."

Mitsuko hesitated, rubbing her arm. It's not like she could trust him completely but...he had kept all the secrets she'd told him, and at least he was a good listener."...Information for information?"

He chuckled, nodding. "A fair deal." He wagged a tentacle. "I won't have any secrets at this rate, so remember our terms."

"That's kind of the idea." A small smirk crept onto her face as she sat down next to him. "I want to know why you chose to teach E Class."

Koro-sensei sighed. "Yes, I expected this would crop up eventually." He rubbed his chin with a tentacle. "I suppose the simplest answer is that I made a promise to someone very important."

Mitsuko stared at him questionably for a while. "What kind of promise?"

"Ah, only one question at a time," he reminded her. "Now, tell me how you're really feeling."

She stayed silent for a moment, before sighing quietly, looking away. "Well, I don't know because sometimes I'm sad but then sometimes I'm happy and it's like everything I want is finally in front of me, but it's not what I thought it would be..." Her brow furrowed, looking over at Koro-sensei. "Does that makes sense?"

He nodded. "Yes, to me it does."

Mitsuko sighed, leaning her head against the fence. "Did you ever feel the same way?"

He chuckled softly. "Yes, quite a number of times." He looked up at the crescent moon. "It's often been the case that I what I thought I wanted wasn't actually what I wanted while the things I didn't think I needed ended up becoming exactly what I needed."

"That...sounds confusing," Mitsuko commented, sighing tiredly. "I don't know. I guess a part of me wants to go back to E Class but at the same time...I don't want to go back to just being..." she trailed off, finding it hard to pinpoint the right word. "Not seen, especially by her."

"I assume you mean Nakamura-san," he said gently.

She pulled her knees up to her chin. "So how long did it take you to figure it out?"

A sweat-drop slid down his round head. "Uh...well, far longer than it should." He gave a nervous laugh. "Ms Irina may have had to clue me in a bit towards the end."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, brushing some hair out of her face. "Not surprising."

Koro-sensei let out a deep breath. "Have you tried talking to Nakamura?"

"No," she muttered. "What more is there to say?"

"Oh, I think a great deal more," Koro-sensei replied. "A lot of times there's a whole other perspective we haven't even considered."

Mitsuko frowned. "I guess..."

"What are you afraid of will happen if you do talk?"

She looked uncomfortable. "...That I'll get my hopes up and have everything broken again," she replied, wrapping her arms around herself tighter. "My dad says that I rely on people and it makes me vulnerable, and he's right." She closed her eyes. "I'm never going to be strong enough if I can't stand my ground."

"I think your father may be misunderstanding what trust in friends is," Koro-sensei said patiently. "While it's true people can hurt us and betray our trust, not trusting people and distancing ourselves can cause even more harm." He looked at her pointedly. "People like your father distance themselves because they're afraid, not because they think they're strong."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "My dad isn't afraid of anything."

"I'd disagree," he replied politely. "I think he's afraid of a great deal, so much so that he thinks that the lessons he's teaching you will make you strong."

She looked up at him searchingly, thinking it over for a long moment, trying to wrap her head around her dad being afraid.

"That's...how can you be so sure anyway?" Her shoulders hunched defensively.

"Experience," Koro-sensei answered. "Fear can bring out the worst in us at times." His smile was kind. "But when we admit our fear, that's when we start to grow strong."

Mitsuko grimaced, looking down. "I might be afraid of him but he's my still my dad," she murmured. "And I think he is right." She looked up at Koro-sensei. "Maybe relying on people can make a normal person feel strong, but I just keep making a mess of it. I get too attached and clingy." She buried her face in her knees. Her long hair draping over her legs like curtains.

"That's not true."

Her face scrunched up, still hidden from him. "Yes, it is!"

He rested a tentacle on her head comfortingly. "And who's told you it is?"

She stayed silent for a long time, feeling a lump get stuck in her throat.

"I just feel like for the first time my dad is actually seeing _me._ " Mitsuko felt an ugly pit in her stomach. "And I know I should feel bad about making Gakushuu jealous but I don't."

"I think I understand," Koro-sensei said quietly. "But your friendship with your brother is important from what you've told me."

"It is." She lifted her head. "I know dad's pitting us against each other and I know that's bad but for once dad actually thinks I stand a chance." She lay her legs flat on the ground, clasping her hands on her lap. "I want to show him I am a threat and that I can beat him and make him proud...but it means I'll have to sacrifice everything else."

"And you think that's worth it?" he asked evenly.

She grimaced and then let out a sigh. "A few years ago I wouldn't have," she replied quietly. "I still love him, but I can't keep being in his shadow as his dumb little sister."

Koro-sensei gave her one last pat on the head. "While I might not know what it's like growing up with a sibling, I don't think distancing yourself from your brother will help. If I wanted to step out of someone's shadow, I'd first want to learn who I am as a person to find my strength and not the expectations of what other people think I should be achieving."

Mitsuko's chest tightened, keeping her mouth closed when the feeling grew more painful.

Koro-sensei stood up and dusted himself off. "You know I believe you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for." He gave her a warm smile. "Whatever class you choose to be in, it needs to be the one you want to be in."

She slowly stood up. "And if I like being in A Class?"

"Then I suppose E Class has lost a valuable member," Koro-sensei replied. "But that doesn't mean you've lost your friends, regardless of what class you're in."

* * *

Mitsuko shut the door behind her a bit too loudly when she got home, feeling exhausted when she leaned against it for support.

_Of course, Koro-sensei has to end up making things more complicated than they need to be._

"Why does he have to be so interfering?" she muttered, slipping her shoes off. "He's not a social worker..."

She walked over to the stairs but stopped when she heard a faint thud from the ceiling above.

"Huh?" Her brow furrowed, looking up.

"Mitsuko?" Her mom popped her head around the corner, wiping her hands on her apron. "I wasn't sure when you were getting back."

Mitsuko straightened up. "Oh, uh, yeah me neither, I guess." She shrugged uncomfortably. "Anyway, I have homework so—"

"I made hotpot," mom blurted out suddenly, making her frown. "Your favourite." She clasped her hands tight and smiled. "I even made dessert."

Mitsuko frowned. "Oh." She stared at her mom warily. "Thanks..."

Mom's smile wavered. "Come on!" She beckoned her to follow her into the kitchen.

Cautiously, Mitsuko placed her bag on the stair bannister before she wandered into the kitchen, feeling even more confused when she saw her mom had prepared a whole hotpot with too much food to spare with the hot pot bubbling on the table.

"Uh...isn't it out of season for hotpot?" Mitsuko questioned.

Mom shrugged, smiling. "But it's your favourite." She took a plate out of the oven and placed it on the table. "Go ahead, sit down."

Mitsuko hesitantly sat down while her mom pottered around the kitchen in a way she hadn't seen in years. "So...when's dad getting home?"

"Oh, not until late again," Mom replied flippantly, sitting down next to her with her plate. "I'm sure he can re-heat some of this anyway."

"Right..." Mitsuko slowly picked up her chopsticks that were on her plate. "Gakushuu says he'll be back late too."

"That's nice," Mom replied blandly as she took some boiled chicken and cabbage out of the pot and placed it on her plate. "How was school?"

"It was fine," Mitsuko replied quietly, taking some chicken for herself while some more onion was added. "How was your day?"

"It was good," she said, smiling a little too forced. "I did some cleaning and caught up on the bills."

Mitsuko nodded, watching her warily as she ate. She could see some faint dark circles under her eyes which meant she hadn't been sleeping well, which was a give if all the alcohol had been taken away; the withdrawal could be a nightmare.

She looked away in regret when her mom glanced back at her. Mom's smile faded. "...I did want to discuss what happened with...well your father had good reason to get rid of it all," Mom said quietly, reaching out apprehensively to smooth some hair out of Mitsuko's face. "I'm sorry I was...careless."

The affection felt misplaced or more like weird and awkward.

_But she's trying. She's just trying to apologise._

Mitsuko grimaced, feeling sick. "It's okay." She stared at her mom guiltily. "It was my fault. I'm sorry dad made you get rid of everything and that he was rude to—"

"It's fine," her mom reassured quickly, placing her hand over hers on the table. "It doesn't even matter, so let's not talk about it, okay?"

Mitsuko frowned. "Yeah, but are you sure you're—"

"Mitsuko." Mom gripped her hands too tight. "I said, we don't need to talk about it anymore."

"I know, but if you're upset—"

"Mitsuko!" she snapped harshly, making her tense. "You're ruining..." She moved her hand away as she clenched it into a fist and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. So much has happened these last few months." She sighed deeply. "I just want things to settle down and get rid of all this tension." Mom smiled tightly. "I want to put that all behind us. Okay?"

_She's just trying to be nice..._

Mitsuko felt something curl up in her stomach. "But I wasn't..." She trailed off when she realised arguing was just going to make things worse. "I'm not trying to ruin anything, I was just asking if you were okay..."

"Of course I'm okay." She smiled warmly and stroked Mitsuko's cheek. "It's you I'm worried about. You did so well in getting back into A-Class and it was nearly jeopardised because of that night – I don't even understand why you'd drink that much."

Mitsuko cringed, feeling her shame resurface, moving her face away from her mom's grasp. "I wasn't thinking right..."

Mom's brow furrowed faintly. "Your father says it was those friends of yours, the ones from E Class. That they upset you?"

"It's wasn't exactly like that," she replied, shifting uncomfortably.

Her mom hummed, staring at her thoughtfully. "I know things have been difficult between us for a while," she said quietly. "But I want you to feel comfortable telling me if something's wrong."

_Ugh..._

She felt more uneasy,

"Right," Mitsuko replied warily. "Well, I'm fine now, so if I have a problem you'll be the first to know."

Mom's smile tightened. "Mitsuko, please, I'm just trying to help." She sighed and started to add more to the pot. "You worked so hard to get back into A-Class and I don't want you jeopardising that." Her smile grew grim. "Sometimes the people we think are our friends can steer us in the wrong direction, and you have such amazing opportunities ahead of you."

She felt her whole muscles tighten up. "You haven't even met half of them..."

"That doesn't mean I'm wrong," Mom insisted a little aggressively.

"No, just that you don't know your facts," Mitsuko replied stiffly.

"Don't take that tone with me," Mom snapped, but then quickly tried to reign it in. "I...I just want you to listen and consider what I'm saying." She took a deep breath. "Your father and I, we're so proud of you and I want you to make _good_ choices." Her face scrunched up briefly, an upset look which lasted a second. "I want you to make better choices than me."

Mitsuko winced. "Mom..."

"Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" she asked quietly, looking more earnest than she had in years.

"...Yes." Mitsuko sighed, exhausted. "Yes, I understand."

Her mom smiled and nodded. "Then let's eat up, you look tired."

"Yeah, sure." Mitsuko poked at her food before taking a large bite, trying to stuff as much food in her mouth as possible so she wouldn't have to talk anymore.

Mom seemed content with the silence and just sipped some water alongside her food while trying very hard to hide the slight jittering of her hands.

She wasn't even that hungry and felt bloated by the time she'd forced herself to eat an acceptable portion from her plate.

"I have homework to do," Mitsuko made her excuse, scraping her chair against the tiles when she stood up.

Mom nodded. "Have a good night."

Mitsuko nodded dismissively, getting out of the kitchen quickly. She ran a hand over her face and sighed, walking towards the stairs where her school bag was still hooked on the bannister.

"Can I seriously go one second without a lecture?" she muttered, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she walked upstairs so she could finally go to sleep and pretend for a few hours that today didn't happen.

She glanced at Gakushuu's room when she passed, wondering how long he was even going to hold a grudge over being humiliated. Her thoughts lingered briefly on what Koro-sensei had said—

There was another thud followed by a low hiss coming from her bedroom down the hall.

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at her door and cautiously walked over to her bedroom door and listened carefully.

"—Idiot!" a gruff voice hissed.

"Will you two be quiet," there was a harsh whisper from a girl.

"Huh?" Her eyes widened in alarm. She shook her head and opened the door slowly and silently. 

When she peeked her head around the corner Karma had Terasaka in a headlock while Sugino, Nagisa, Maehara and Isogai were trying to pry them apart. Kayano was picking up some books from off the floor while Sugaya, Kimura, Mimura, Okajima, and Fuwa were on their phones. Yoshida and Muramatsu were tossing a foam stress ball back and forth. Kanzaki and Yada were feeding her fish at the same time Kataoka and Hara were folding her clothes and Okano was admiring her shoes in her closet, while Hayami and Chiba were cleaning their guns on the bed. Okuda and Kurahashi were reading one of her fantasy novels while Hazama was looking through her old scrapbook—

"What the hell?!" Mitsuko yelled, making them all jump and caused Kanzaki to drop the can od fish food in the tank. 


	25. We are Friends

Karma was the first to recover and instantly released Terasaka. "Took you long enough."

Mitsuko gaped, staring at them all in disbelief, closing the door behind her. "Are you all crazy?"

"Well we had to come see you," Kurahashi argued, frowning. "And you were never alone."

"Yeah, the minute you stepped outside there was someone with you," Kimura said.

"That's..." She faltered, feeling a swell of warmth when she realised they had wanted to talk to her."None of that matters – you can't be here."

"Mitsuko?" Mom was calling from downstairs.

_Shit._

"Fuck," Mitsuko swore, looking over her shoulder when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Hide."

Sugaya looked around the room. "How?"

"Just do it," she hissed desperately before quickly rushing out of the room.

She pressed her back against the door once in the hallway, just in time to see her mom come up the last of the steps.

Her mom paused, frowning faintly. "I heard noises...and yelling." She raised an eyebrow as she walked over. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I was just talking to myself," Mitsuko replied flippantly, shrugging. "And listening to music."

Mom looked suspicious, crossing her arms. "You were just talking to yourself...while listening to music?"

"Yeah." Mitsuko shrugged again.

Mom narrowed her eyes at the bedroom door. "Did you invite someone over?" She marched over to the door.

"What? No." Mitsuko rushed in front of the door, trying to block it. "Mom, I've been with you the entire time. Like, what, do you expect me to just have, like, snuck a whole group of weirdos in my room or something?!"

Her mom grimaced, grabbing the door handle. "If there's a boy in here, I swear—"

"Mom!" Mitsuko broke out in a cold sweat. "Wait, don't—"

The room was empty when they both burst in, and there was a faint breeze from the window, but there was none of her classmates' insight; in fact, the room looked tidier than before.

Mom frowned. "Oh..." She stepped into the room fully and looked around.

"See?" Mitsuko quickly looked accusing. "Like what did you expect, a secret drug ring or something?"

Her mom sighed, turning around to eye her warily. "I apologise." She gave her a strained smile. "I just thought that..."

"That I was a liar?" Mitsuko arched an eyebrow.

A quick grimace flashed on her mom's face for a few seconds. "Of course not," she replied unconvincingly. "But your father did mention that you're having trouble adjusting—"

"I'm adjusting fine," Mitsuko interrupted quickly, uneasily wondering where E Class was and if they could hear.

Mom levelled her with a look. "I'm sure you're trying your best." She reached out and smoothed her hair out of the way. "If you're going to play music while you study, then turn it off when your father gets home."

Mitsuko shrugged uncomfortably. "Okay, fine."

Mom nodded and cast the room another shrewd look before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Mitsuko let out a deep sigh of relief and leaned on her desk for support.

Yoshida popped his head out from the curtain. "That was close."

"No shit," Muramatsu hissed, popping his head from the other side of the window. "Can we come in now before we fall, please?"

Nagisa, Kayano, Okuda, Terasaka, and Karma crawled out from under the bed.

"Well, your mom isn't stupid," Karma commented, dusting himself off as he stood up. "You might want to try cleaning under your bed, though."

"Yeah, it's really dusty back here." Okajima came out from behind the bookcase along with Sugino. "Your mom's pretty hot by the way."

"Yeah, how did a creep like the Principal score her?" Maehara peaked his head out of the closet.

Mitsuko glared at him. "Please be quiet." She opened her desk and took out her digital radio. "Keep your voices down." She turned the radio on and flipped the volume up.

"Wow, your closet is big," Isogai said as he, Kataoka, Chiba, Hayami, Kurahashi, Kimura, Maehara, Okano, Hara, and Kanzaki all piled out.

"Like seriously, who needs all that space?" Fuwa objected, emerging from underneath a winter coat. "Do you even wear half this stuff?"

"Or shoes." Maehara held up one of her springtime collection heels.

"There were a lot of shoes," Yada said, coming out of the closet last. "I like the rotating shelf."

"Yeah, what's up with that thing?" Hara questioned.

Fuwa smiled apologetically. "I think we might have broken it."

"How much money does the Principal even earn?" Hazama whispered as Yoshida helped climb down from the window.

Mimura came out from his hiding spot under the desk. "And is it even legal?"

"Nice trophies by the way." Sugino picked up her 1st place gold in swimming.

Sugaya appeared from the laundry basket in the corner. "And how much time do we have before he gets back?"

Mitsuko sighed, placing the radio by the door. "Not long..." She scowled. "Which is why you're all idiots for coming here."

"Well, we wouldn't have to come here if you'd just talk to us," Yoshida said in a hushed voice.

"We know you lost your phone but ever heard of the internet?" Hazama remarked.

Mitsuko felt an ache in her chest. "I don't have to explain myself to you guys," she replied defensively, walking over to the window to close it. "It's like I already told Ritsu..." She felt a pang of guilt. "I made a choice." She closed the window, taking in a deep breath before turning around. "I'm not E Class anymore, so you guys should just forget about me and move on."

"Not until we know this is really what you want," Sugaya argued, looking determined.

She looked annoyed. "We already talked about this, Sugaya." She heaved a sigh. "And this is all I've wanted, you all know that. I couldn't wait to leave."

"Yeah, so did the rest of us in the beginning," Kataoka replied. "But we all know things are different now." She looked at her questionably. "We're all friends, Mitsuko."

Mitsuko felt a swell of bitterness. "Oh, is that what we are now?" her voice grew cold. "So suddenly now I'm Miss Popular and you guys are actually noticing me?"

Kurahashi frowned. "What are you talking about?"

The bitter feeling burned deep. "I'm talking about the fact this is the first time, you assholes are actually paying attention to _me_." She pointed at herself. "You never noticed, you never cared. I might as well have been invisible."

"That's not true," Kurahashi said, looking hurt. "We've always seen you."

"Yeah, you're too much of a massive bitch to ignore," Terasaka muttered.

"Fuck you," Mitsuko swore at him.

"Is that why you wanted to leave?" Nagisa asked, frowning. "Because you think we don't care about you?"

Mitsuko hesitated, feeling a smidge of doubt, but anger quickly took over. They were all here, all except Rio. Something ugly grew in her chest at that thought.

"Stop treating me like an idiot." Her hands curled into fists. "Half of you don't even like me."

"I'm pretty sure Terasaka's the only one who doesn't like you," Karma commented.

"Karma," Nagisa reprimanded in a hushed voice.

Terasaka took offence. "If I didn't like her I wouldn't be here, asshole." He glared at Karma who just rolled his eyes.

"Listen, Mitsuko, none of us here dislike you," Isogai told her, taking a step forward.

Karma sat down on the bed. "Why would we come if we did?"

"Most of us just feel awkward because you're always so guarded all the time," Fuwa said, grimacing.

"Yeah, we thought _you_ were the one who didn't like us," Okuda whispered.

Mitsuko felt a tug of guilt. "I..." She looked away. "Well, what do you expect? Half the time you all kept looking at me like I was some...some kind of freak or...I don't know." She grew flustered. "Look, none of it matters, okay?" She scowled. "I'm better off in A Class." It was hard to swallow. "I need to be stronger, and I can't do that in E Class."

"Says who?" Maehara crossed his arms. "The Principal?"

Mitsuko shot Sugaya an annoyed look. "Yes," she replied, growing more defensive. "And he's right."

"No he's not," Sugaya looked irritated. "He's just brainwashed you into thinking he is."

She winced. "I am not brainwashed."

"Yes, you are!" Sugaya lost his patience and raised his voice, surprising the others. "You think how he treats you is normal—?"

"Stop it, j-just stop it," she snapped, feeling her skin crawl. She blinked back some tears and felt her chest tighten. "I'm not brainwashed."

"Then tell us how we're wrong?" Karma challenged, staring at her like he was seeing right through her.

A horrible pit grew in her stomach, as her throat seemed to close up when she couldn't think of an argument because the whole class was a walking contradiction to everything the Principal had ever taught her.

But brainwashing? That was, or would...the thought of it felt terrifying and she didn't how to process that because brainwashing was something meant for those spy movies. The Principal's lessons did seem better suited in those kinds of movies though and all they ever did most of the time was making her feel worse than she already did.

"I'm the exception." The words slipped out quietly, feeling her insides churn. "I'm not strong like the rest of you." She couldn't look at them. "There are things wrong with me, and I need to fix it and be better."

None of them replied to that, there was just silence.

"...Mitsuko," Yada spoke softly like she was an injured animal. "If this is about you..." She took a deep breath. "It's okay that you like girls."

Mitsuko felt her insides freeze. "It's not—"

"Yeah, we're totally cool with the whole lesbian thing," Yoshida said hastily, making her want to die.

Okano hit him. "She's bisexual."

"Ow!" Yoshida rubbed his arm. "What's the difference?"

"For the record, most of us figured it out," Maehara commented, smiling.

"You weren't exactly subtle." Kayano looked amused.

"None of us care about it," Sugino reassured.

Mitsuko felt like vomiting. "That's not the part of me I want fixed, you idiots!" she snapped, silencing them. "I need to get stronger so I can stop assholes from trying to ' _fix_ ' that part of me."

"...And you seriously think being in A Class will do that?" Nagisa asked quietly.

She looked away and wrapped her arms around herself, doubting even though she shouldn't be. Maybe they were right but that didn't change what happened with Rio and the all the hurt that came with it.

"...Why isn't Nakamura with you?"

A few of her classmates shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, we asked but she's still pissed off with you," Karma said, giving her a hard stare as he stood up. "And, honestly, I'm not sure I can blame her."

Mitsuko felt a spark of anger, narrowing her eyes at him. "And what's that meant to mean?"

"It means you're so self-absorbed you can't even appreciate when everyone's trying to help you," Karma replied coldly. "You keep telling us we don't care even though you're the one cutting everyone off," he told her, while she felt trapped on the spot. "You keep painting yourself as the victim—"

"I'm not painting myself as a victim!" she snapped, tear gathering in her eyes. "You don't know a damn thing."

"Okay, guys cool it," Isogai quickly stepped forward.

"Then how about standing up for yourself for once," Karma whispered fiercely. "How about treating Nakamura with _actual respect?_ "

Mitsuko saw red and shoved him. "Shut up."

"Hey!" Sugaya rushed forward and got in-between. "Calm down."

Karma glared at her. "Stop punishing yourself into thinking you deserve to be treated like shit."

Mitsuko jerked back, her hands shaking and clammy.

"Karma, stop it," Nagisa hissed, pulling his arm. "That's enough."

Her eyes stung, pushing Sugaya away. "You don't know anything." She wiped her eyes desperately, a sob stuck in her throat, turning away from them.

"Mitsuko..." Kanzaki's voice was soft, stepping closer. "We do understand that things are hard," she said quietly. "And some of us...well, most of us, understand how hard it is with parents and how strict they can be. It's a lot of pressure, but we're here for you."

_Understand?_

She looked at their faces in disbelief at how naïve they were.

Mitsuko clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. She felt like laughing and crying all at the same time.

"And how exactly do you think you can understand?" she repeated, looking at Kanzaki in bewilderment. "Did your dad tell you every day that you were useless?" A sob was stuck in her throat. "Or that you were an _embarrassment_ or pretend you didn't exist for two months because you got a 68 on a history test which didn't even matter?"

Kanzaki frowned and stepped back. "Mitsuko?"

"Did he threaten to kill your fish? Did he lock you in a closet for six hours until you wet your pants?" Mitsuko ranted, vision blurry as tears leaked out. Her head pounded from hysterics, wanting to scream at them all. "Or did he-he, did he drug..." She started to choke up, moving back while they all stared at her. "Did he drug you so that you'd vomit on the floor repeatedly, while he _watched_ so that you'd learn a lesson about failure?"

They all just stared at her in silence with wide eyes and with some opening gaping like she'd slapped them.

"Mitsuko..." Sugaya looked horrified. "Your dad drugged you?"

She clammed up when her gaze flickered back and forth at them all.

_I shouldn't have said that._

_Why did I say that?!_

"It was just Ipecac, nothing dangerous," she said quickly. "It's not like he was trying to kill me or anything. It's not like that." Her gaze kept shifting away from them. "He wasn't trying to hurt me physically, it's all just mental. L-like chess, you know. It's a game." Then she tried to back-track. "Well, not like a game exactly—it's a part of his teaching philosophy."

"What kind of fucked up philosophy is that?" Terasaka's voice was strained, shaking his head. "That isn't normal."

Okano looked outraged. "Screw normal, it's abuse."

Mitsuko cringed at the word. "No, it's not that."

 _It's not. It's not._ _It's not!_

"Then what else is it, Mitsuko?" Kataoka questioned, staring at her in disbelief.

"Lessons," she replied, not knowing what other words could possibly explain it. "It's not like he's doing it for fun. There's a reason for it. He's _teaching_ me the best way he knows how." She looked at them all defiantly. "I know he's a bastard—I'm not stupid—he's a horrible father but..." She hesitated, wanting to curl up and disappear. "Sometimes you have to suffer t-to be better, there's a purpose for it, otherwise..." Her skin felt like there was a cold chill touching it. "Then everything I had to go through was pointless." An acidic taste climbed up her throat. "All the pain would—It would be pointless, s-so it _has to_ all be for _something._ "

No one spoke for a long time until Chiba spoke up so quietly the others jumped in surprise.

"It wouldn't be pointless," Chiba kept his head low and his arms wrapped around himself while he leant against the wall. "Sometimes bad things can help us become the people we are but knowingly putting yourself through pain because you think it'll make you stronger won't help, you're just making yourself weaker by shutting everyone out."

"That vomiting only started after what your dad did right?" Sugaya looked at her pointedly.

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, biting down hard on her tongue. She let out a deep breath after another second. "Yes," she answered, Koro-sensei's past warnings and teachings niggling at the back of her mind.

"All he's teaching you is to be afraid," Nagisa said gently, staring at her with a pained look.

"And you don't seem very happy," Hara murmured.

Mitsuko's limbs started to feel like lead. She looked at them all, trying to find some excuse to say they were wrong but...

"Fine," she whispered. "But if he can't help me then what am I supposed to do?" She stared back accusingly. "I need to be strong."

"And we're all still trying to figure that out as well," Sugaya replied, smiling slightly. "The point is, we're here for you to lean on if you need us." His smile twitched. "I mean, we broke into your house just to see you, so how much more loyal can you get?"

She let out a small broken laugh, wiping her cheeks. "I guess."

"Hey!" Terasaka interrupted, pulling his gaze away from the crack in the curtains. "The Principal's back. We need to move."

"Shit." Mitsuko bolted to the window and looked out. A familiar black car was pulling into the driveway. "You all need to leave, now." She turned back to them. "How did you get here to start with?"

"Nagisa went in through the bathroom window and then unlocked your window to let us in," Kayano replied.

"What about the cameras?" she asked.

There was a pause.

"You have cameras?" Muramatsu said.

Mitsuko buried her face in her palm. "Are you kidding me?"

"Well, we tried to get Ritsu to check for them," Sugaya looked unsure. "But she was really upset."

_Upset?_

_Guilt-soaked memories of the confrontation at the arcade came back in waves._

She grimaced, burying her guilt. "My mom is downstairs and the Principal will be coming through the front door and then grab some leftovers from the kitchen," she relayed his usual pattern, pacing around the room. "Then he'll be in his office for another hour which is where the feed for the cameras is... He can't see you from the kitchen so I'll...I'll distract him while one of you guys hooks Ritsu up to his computer in his office. That way she can hack in and wipe the footage."

"Good plan." Fuwa pulled out her phone. "Ritsu, we need you."

There was a beat of silence.

"...Ritsu?" Fuwa frowned, shaking her phone. "Where is she?"

"I told you she was upset." Sugaya grimaced, glancing at Mitsuko.

Mitsuko swallowed a bad taste, looking away. "I'm sure she's fine..." She tried not to think about it, pushing it away.

"He's heading to the front door," Terasaka relayed, from where he was looking from the gap in the curtain.

She tried to keep her frustration in check. "Okay, the alarms activate at the gate at Midnight so you need to get out." Mitsuko took a deep breath and gathered her nerves back together. "Someone needs to hook Ritsu up in my dad's office while I distract him?"

Everyone looked over at Nagisa who tensed up.

"Wait, what?" Nagisa looked nervous. "Oh, come on!"

"You're the secret badass, twerp," Terasaka replied.

"Yeah, you'll be in and out of there in no time." Sugino patted him on the back.

Nagisa sighed. "Okay, fine." He took a deep breath and smiled apprehensively at her. "Just make sure I don't get caught."

"You won't," Mitsuko reassured.

Hiroto clapped him on the shoulder. "And if you do we'll make sure to give you a good funeral."

Nagisa's shoulders slumped, not amused. "Wow, thanks..."

"Okay, so Nagisa and I will head downstairs while you all sneak out through the window," Mitsuko relayed the plan.

"But how is Nagisa gonna sneak out without being seen by the cameras?" Kayano asked.

Mitsuko quickly racked her brains. "Ritsu can pause the recording while you get out, then she can just transfer to another cell phone or computer when the job's done." She looked at the others "In five minutes, you all need to escape through my window and then climb over the gate. Understand?"

"Yes." They all nodded at once.

"Okay, Nagisa, come on," Mitsuko said, she reached down and turned off the radio by the door. "Don't make a sound," she warned them as she slowly opening the door to peer out.

The others remained silent while she and Nagisa tiptoed out of the door, closing it behind them before they went downstairs.

She could hear her parents in the kitchen.

"—I didn't touch it..." Her mom's voice blurred and echoed from the kitchen.

From the bottom of the stairs, she glanced around the corner where the door to the home office was, with the living room and kitchen opposite.

"Come on," she hissed, socks barely touching the floor when they moved.

"...Don't just leave it in the sink!" Mom snapped from the kitchen.

Mitsuko stumbled and nearly collided with Nagisa, hanging onto the side table for dear life while he clung to her waist to stop her from falling.

"I just cleared it," Mom was lecturing her dad. Then there was a sigh. "Just put it in the dishwasher." Followed by a clatter of some dishes.

Mitsuko let out a breath she was holding while Nagisa eased off his grip around her waist.

When they reached the door she turned the knob carefully and gently pushed the door open. They bother clambered inside and closed the door behind them.

Nagisa pulled out his phone and headed to the computer on the desk. "Ritsu, we need you," he whispered at his phone.

Mitsuko hastily turned on the computer and waited for it to boot-up.

"Ritsu," Nagisa hissed, frowning. "Ritsu, can you hear me."

Her stomach twisted. "Isn't she answering?"

Nagisa's frown deepened. "No...I don't know what's wrong with her."

_Shit._

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat and grabbed the phone. "Ritsu, it's Mitsuko." The Home screen on the phone stayed plain. "Look, I'm sorry, alright. I know you're upset, but we really need your help right now."

Nothing happened.

"Ritsu, please," Mitsuko pleaded, holding the phone tighter and half wanted to throw the phone against the wall when nothing happened still. "Please, please, just—ugh!" She gritted her teeth and glared at the phone. "Right, listen. Throw a bitch fit some other time because if you don't get your ass on this screen in the next minute, everyone in the class is going to suffer if you don't help."

Another second passed.

Mitsuko raised the phone to throw it. "Ritsu--"

"Nagisa, hook me up to the Bluetooth on the computer," Ritsu voice came from the phone, making her freeze. "I can hack into it from there."

Mitsuko lowered her arm and looked at the screen where Ritsu was staring back at her coldly and felt a chill run down her spine at the cold glare she was being given. "Oh... thanks."

"Go distract your dad while I hook her up," Nagisa said, taking his phone back. "Hurry."

"Right," Mitsuko gave Ritsu one last look before hurrying out of the office and closing the door behind her.

"—Don't make a mess in there," Mom nagged from the kitchen. "I already had to vacuum this morning."

_Fuck._

Mitsuko ran towards the kitchen too quickly and skidded along the polished floor too fast until she smacked straight into the wall of the kitchen and onto the white tiled floor.

"Ah!" She winced in pain, looking up at the bright lights.

"What on Earth are you doing?!" Mom snapped.

Mitsuko grimaced, looking up at her parents who were looking down at her in confusion. "Uh, sorry!" She hastily got back on her feet, letting out a hiss of pain when she touched her shoulder. "I must have miss-judged that corner there!"

"Clearly." The Principal raised an eyebrow, holding a bowl of steaming Hotpot leftovers in one hand while his suitcase was in the other.

Mom sighed, shaking her head. She was holding a basket of clothes under her arm and already looked too tired to even bother questioning her excuses. "I'm going to iron," she told them both, shaking her head as she left. "Try not to make a mess."

Mitsuko held back a sigh of relief. Good, if she was ironing then she'd be in the utility room in the garage where there weren't any windows.

"Is there something you wanted?"

Mitsuko's head snapped back to the Principal who was watching her expectantly. "Yes," she answered instantly, and then felt her heartbeat race when she realised she had no idea what to say next. "I...wanted to...to know..." She fought back a cringe. "To know...when I would be allowed a new phone."

There was a long pause.

Mitsuko forced a smile. "Please?"

He blinked closely, looking at her like she was an idiot. "You want a new phone?"

"Well, the other one is broken so..." She shrugged uneasily. "I mean, I do need one for emergencies and everything..."

He remained silent for another moment. "Very well," he replied evenly. "Tell your mother which one and I will pay for it."

"Thank you," she said lightly, swallowing. "I also wanted to discuss something else." Her mouth was moving faster than her brain. "About...Takebayashi."

His gaze sharpened. "What else is there to discuss?"

She felt a rise of indigence. "Well, a lot actually."

The Principal eyed her curiously. "I see." He turned to the table and placed his suitcase on the floor. "Then by all means." He placed the bowl on the table and sat down. "Speak."

Mitsuko's jaw was tight, keeping her nerves at bay. "This whole plan is unnecessary, taking him from E Class and making him say those things was enough of a blow already."

"I'd disagree." He took a long and excruciatingly slow bite of his food and chewed. "You haven't truly won until your enemy is crushed." His eyes narrowed a fraction. "I don't see why I need to remind you of that now?"

A thud came from above, making tense up.

Idiots.

His gaze shifted over her shoulder warily, lowering his fork.

"Funny thing about that lesson," she interjected quickly, regaining his attention when she sat down in front of him. "If it's true then why is it E Class keeps humiliating you."

Something like rage flashed in his eyes ever so briefly, but at least his attention was now fully on her. "Those are setbacks."

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought setbacks were another term for failure?"

His jaw clenched tight briefly, before his expression smooth out. He clasped his hands on the table. "A consequence of incompetence from less...focussed minds." He smiled faintly. "I'm surprised we're even discussing it when I made it very clear E Class was not your concern anymore." He tilted his head slightly. "But then again, considering you've clearly been crying, perhaps my faith was misplaced."

Her shoulders tensed, digging her nails into her lap, bunching pieces on her skirt tightly like she was trying to squeeze the life out of the fabric.

"It's been an emotional day," she replied, staring at him coldly. "I'm just waiting for it to get easier like you said." Something seemed stuck in her throat. "It's taking longer than expected."

The Principal hummed, watching her like he was picking apart everything she was trying to hide. "Yes, I know it isn't easy." His voice was placid and soothing—her gaze grew suspicious. "Even your brother's complained about their persistence—hiding in a plant pot, honestly." He chuckled lightly, making her want to bolt. He ate some of the leftovers, chewing deliberately too slow and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. "They certainly have an imagination."

She held her breath as her muscles seized up, struggling to stay calm because if he was mentioning this then did that mean he knew exactly her room was currently full of those overly-imaginative classmates.

_Just calm down!_

_Panic was practically a confession._

"They're stubborn," she replied calmly. "It's not as if I gave them a proper goodbye."

"Something that will happen regularly in your life," he replied dismissively. "But if it's all too much perhaps the best solution is some distance."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Well, it wouldn't be difficult to arrange a transfer to another school, even at this late in the year," The Principal answered like the whole thing was insignificant as he finished off the meal on the table, taking his time, while her temper built up under her skin."And with the improvement of your grades, well..." He moved the bowl to the side and dabbed his mouth with the napkin. "I'm sure you'd have many options—"

"No." The chair knocked up when she jumped to her feet, slamming her hands on the table, making the bowl shake. "I am not leaving." She all but snarled, glowering at him while he stared back blankly. "You can't make me, no matter what."

He calmly folded away the napkin. "I believe we had a similar conversation before, with the same expected outcome," he remarked. She swallowed bile, feeling her arms shake. "Despite what you may think, I wouldn't enjoy having to do that, but for the sake of your education I wouldn't have much of a choice."

She moved away from the table and turned away from him before the urge to bury her fist in his face became too much. "Stop _pretending_ to have my best interests at heart," she told him coldly, clenching her hands into fists. "If you even try to make me leave then—"

"You'll no doubt throw a tantrum until you exhaust yourself." Was his infuriatingly self-assured response. "Or have to be escorted off the campus by authorities which would be an embarrassment for both of us."

Mitsuko dug her nails into her arm, breathing still shallow when she tried to calm down.

"I believe this conversation is finished," he said, standing up with his suitcase in hand. "Tomorrow will be an interesting day."

Her eyes widened in alarm when she realised where he was going.

_Nagisa._

_Shit._

_He could still be in there._

"Wait!" She tried to block him from leaving. "I'm not finished."

He kept walking passed and out of the kitchen. "Yes, we are."

_No, no, no!_

Her heart was ramming against her ribcage too fast, looking on in panic when he turned down the hallway to the office.

_Speak. Say something!_

"The conversation isn't over just because you say it is," she snapped, reaching out to grab his arm when he opened the door. "And just because Ikeda killed himself it doesn't give you the right to be an abusive father!"

The whole world seemed to stop when she felt him freeze, hand resting on the door handle.

Her eyes widened when she realised what she'd just said.

_Oh, shit._

Mentioning Ikeda was a nuclear decision, something that was a line that was not be crossed under any circumstances.

Mitsuko couldn't move, keeping her eyes trained on his back while her hand was still grasped around his wrist.

The door creaked open, showing a clear view of the desk and window, but with no blue-haired boy insight.

The Principal didn't move to go in, he stayed exactly where he was.

"You think you're being abused?" His voice was calm and low enough for her to realise she was in trouble.

A chill trickled down her spine, staring at the back of his head like another set of eyes were glaring back at her. "I..."

He looked over his shoulder at her, with the coldest gaze she'd ever seen him give her. "Is that the type of monster you think I am?"

She tried to run for it, stepping back, but before she could blink his hand grabbed the back of her hair, yanking her back.

She hissed in alarm, and grabbed the top of her head, trying to lessen the weight of his grip. "Let me go!"

The rush of panic she felt made ribs feel like they were being crushed.

"Because if I was the type of monster to brutalise children, then I assume I would have no issue cracking your skull against the wall," he said lightly, digging his nails into her scalp. "Is that what I would do?"

She flinched, shutting her eyes tight when she imagined her head being bashed against the wall until it was cracked open. "No." She could hear her heartbeat in her head, beating loud and erratic. "Dad, please—"

"If I was the type of monster you think I am, I wouldn't take issue with doing it daily, for no reason at all." His voice stayed calm and soothing in contrast to the vice grip he had on her. "I'd probably enjoy it as well and I'd might even beat you, just out of thoughtless rage. Is that what you think I'd do?"

"N-no," she whispered, imagining how much worse he could make this if he wanted to.

When she opened her eyes and looked ahead her heart seized up, Nagisa was by the window, half-ready to leave, but he was staring at her with wide horrified eyes, completely still.

"Everything I have sacrificed and done has been for your benefit and education" He tightened his grip until she winced, keeping her gaze locked on Nagisa.

To her complete horror, Nagisa slowly started to close the window, looking ready to abandon all escape and intervene.

 _No, you idiot!_ She wanted to scream at him.

"Or do you think I enjoy mindless violence?"

"No!" She shot Nagisa a desperate look to leave while her dad was distracted. "You wouldn't, you w-wouldn't do that." She tried to shake her head, gesturing with her gaze for Nagisa to leave immediately. "I'm sorry, dad. I-I didn't mean it."

Nagisa hesitated for an excruciatingly long time, while she mouthed at him to GO'.

The grip on her hair eased but she stayed perfectly still, trying to stop herself from shivering.

Then to her relief, Nagisa opened the window and started to climb out, his eyes still trained on her the whole time, apologetic with his mouth set in a thin displeased line.

"A teacher's goal isn't to be loved, Mitsuko." Dad's voice was soft now, loosening his grip until he was stroking the spot he'd grabbed. "It's to educate."

While she watched Nagisa disappear out of the window, Mitsuko shakily lowered her hands from her head and slowly looked up.

There wasn't any sign of anger on dad's face when he looked down at her.

"You have no idea what real pain is," he told her quietly, distracted for a second before focusing on her again and rested his hand on the top of her head, making her flinch at the contact. "I won't ask why there's a breeze coming from my office that wasn't their earlier, and I won't ask why you've seemed so adamant to distract me." His gaze pinned her in place. "I will ask, however, that I don't hear a single word come out of your mouth until I say otherwise so that I can finally have some peace and quiet."

Mitsuko held her breath, biting down hard on her tongue as she nodded.

"Good." He turned away from her and walked into his office, shutting the door behind with a loud crack.

She let out the breath she'd been holding, collapsing against the wall in exhaustion.


	26. I want to go back

Mitsuko kept her head down during breakfast, while her family went about their usual routine around her.

Her brother’s eyes narrowed when she didn’t greet them with her usual ‘good morning’.

“Good morning then,” he said stiffly.

She opened her mouth to reply but quickly closed it when their father glanced at her pointedly.

“Are you feeling alright?” Mom asked, placing the breakfast down in front of her.

Mitsuko grimaced, growing anxious. “Uh—”

“Mitsuko’s fine,” the Principal interrupted evenly, looking at her pointedly. “Isn’t that right?”

She narrowed her eyes at him briefly, biting down on her tongue as she nodded. “See.” Her father said dismissively, turning back to the newspaper as he drank his coffee.

Mom frowned, but didn’t ask any more questions and just went back to the dishes. Mitsuko poked at her breakfast and barely ate while her brother watched her with an annoyed look on his face.

When they finally left the house in the morning she let out a loud sigh of relief and then rushed to keep up with her brother.

"Finally," she exclaimed.

He shot her an irritated look over his shoulder as they walked down the path on the way to school. "Oh, so _now_ you can speak."

Mitsuko grimaced at his tone. "Yeah, well blame dad for making me take a vow of silence."

His brow furrowed briefly like he wanted to ask what she was talking about, but he turned away dismissively. "Just hurry up, we have to get there early if we're going to keep an eye on that bookworm."

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "His name's Takebayashi," she replied, walking alongside him. "You know, just because you're jealous, it doesn't mean you have to be a jerk to him."

Gakushuu came to an abrupt stop. "I am not jealous."

"Oh, yes, clearly," she replied sarcastically. "Like seriously, come on, you get _one_ taste of what it's like being ignored by dad and you can't cope."

His gaze narrowed. "I'm coping fine. In fact, the only thing I'm mad about is you thinking he's giving you power for a reason other than to test me."

That stung and was a low blow, and even if it was probably true to some degree, he didn't have to be such an asshole about it.

Mitsuko felt a rise of anger. "This may come as a shock, but not everything has to revolve around you."

"No, that would be your department," he shot back spitefully. " Since God forbid I spend less than five minutes making sure _you're_ not upset."

She winced, feeling her anger grow. "Then tell me when you're upset!" she snapped. "The only one who's playing the victim here is you—which you'd realise if you took your head out of your ass for five minutes!"

"Um, excuse me?" A timid voice interrupted them.

"What?!" They both yelled at the same time, snapping their gazes to the side where a man was walking his dog.

"Uh, you're blocking the path..." the man replied feebly, sweating in fear when they levelled him with matching glares.

" _And_?" Mitsuko snapped darkly.

"I-I'll just got around!"

Mitsuko turned back to her brother while the man practically ran across the road to get to the other side. "Look, be angry about the Principal snubbing you, but don't take it out on me when I didn't even do anything."

Gakushuu's jaw was clenched tight, scowling darkly. "Of course, nothing's ever _your_ fault is it?"

"You're such a prick," she swore harshly, balling her hands into fists. "You can say what you want, but I've never complained about being in your shadow—do you even have slightest idea of how hard it is to be your sister?!"

"No." He bared his teeth in a snarl. "Because I'm too busy thinking of how much easier my life would be without you in it!"

Her eyes widened in hurt, feeling like he'd punched her in the gut.

Gakushuu froze up as soon as he said it, gripping his bag strap tightly.

She blinked quickly, feeling her eyes sting. "Well, that's just great." Her voice broke a little in the middle. "Thank you for being honest for once."

His mouth remained shut tight like he'd swallowed something disgusting. " _Good."_

There looked like there was a great deal more he wanted to say, but his lips stayed tightly shut. Anger was still simmering off him as he turned away from her and marched down the path, completely ignoring her like the asshole he was.

Mitsuko gritted her teeth tight, glaring at his back as he marched off in a strop. "Prick," she muttered and then frowned when she saw some people staring. "What are you looking at?!" she snapped, making a few jump in surprise and quickly duck their heads. 

* * *

Mitsuko let out a deep breath when she was alone, leaning against the wall outside of the auditorium; it wouldn't be long until the other students arrived.

"Shit," she swore, banging her head lightly against the wall.

_This was really going to happen._

Her thoughts lingered back to her classmates and felt something ache in her chest.

Her back slid down the wall until she was sat on the grass, staring up at the sky, wishing she was somewhere else.

"Mitsuko..."

She glanced up, grimacing when she saw a very anxious looking Takebayashi approach her, a bit hunched over like he was carrying some extra weight in his school bag.

"Takebayashi," she replied, sighing as she looked back up. "So you actually memorised the speech?"

"...Yes," he replied hesitantly, stopping in front of her.

She smiled grimly. "Of course you did..." Her stomach lurched when she thought about it. "And you're sure you really want to do this?"

He was quiet for a moment. "...Not really." He came and sat down next to her. "None of this is how I thought it would be."

Mitsuko eyed him warily for a second or two, before giving a shrug. "No, me neither...well, I didn't expect to feel so crappy about it at least."

"I can't give that speech," Takebayashi said, his voice growing firmer. "And I don't want to be a crazy overlord or whatever the Principal is trying to push."

She sat up straighter, watching him with interest. "So what are you going to do about it?"

He remained silent for a while, long enough to make her think he either couldn't answer or didn't know-how. "I'm getting sent back to E Class."

Her eyes widened. "That's easier said than done," she replied, frowning. "The Principal isn't just going to transfer you if you ask."

"I know." He gave a deep sigh, looking around where they were sat. "That's why I'll have to force him." He reached into his blazer and slowly half-pulled out a glass trophy—the Principal's trophy. That was meant to be in his office and...

_Oh, shit._

"How did you get that?!" she hissed, rushing to shove it back in his jacket, looking around frightfully for any cameras she might have missed, but the place was a dead zone. "What are you even do—wait..." She looked at him in astonishment. "No way...you can't be serious?"

"If I break it in front of the whole school he'll have to follow the rules and send me to E Class," Takebayashi told her.

"Or he'll murder you," she whispered harshly, but still felt impressed nevertheless. "And what if he just expels you?"

He looked away briefly, unsure. "Well, that's just a risk I'll have to take." His brow creased, staring back at her with a type of conviction she didn't see often. "You know, you don't have to stay here. You can go back as well."

Mitsuko cringed; she wasn't allowed to touch his trophies without getting reprimanded, actually breaking one would be suicide.

"No. I can't." She turned away, feeling her dread growing.

"If it's about Nakamura..."

_Did everyone know?!_

"It's not just about her," she snapped defensively and then sighed. "Okay, so a lot of it is about her but...I don't know. I sucked at being an assassin."

"So did I," Takebayashi replied, shrugging. "But I'm starting to think a part of that was because I didn't believe I could actually do it."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed, thinking it over. "You really think that?"

"I'm going to try to not compare myself to the others in class all the time." He scratched the back of his neck, smiling. "You should try to. You might enjoy it more this time around."

She grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. "It's different for me. I don't get to go back, I just get sent to a convent school in Switzerland or wherever the hell he feels like sending me."

"There could still be a way to go back," Takebayashi said, frowning. "You can't give up."

She folded her arms around herself. "Yeah, well, the Principal doesn't exactly make it easy."

Takebayashi grimaced. "I'm sorry."

She picked at the grass. "It's not your problem."

"Yeah, but we should be able to support each other." He shrugged awkwardly. "That's why I want to go back..." His brow furrowed, staring down at his feet. "I thought maybe if I got my family's approval I'd be happy, but the only time I ever was, was when I was with E Class. Even if it means my family will ignore me, I still want to go back."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, feeling her eyes sting a little. Tearing up fistfuls of the grass. "Then break the trophy and go back while you can."

He was quiet for a moment. "...You know the others can help. You just have to let them."

She took a deep breath, keeping her gaze fixed on her polished black shoes which now had a speck of dirt on them. "This isn't something that can magically be solved by the power of friendship, Takebayashi..."

He smiled grimly. "No, it can't," he replied. "But it can help."

She scoffed softly, shaking her head. Her gaze shifted to the side when she heard more people start to draw closer to the assembly hall. "We need to go or they'll start looking for us." She stood up. "Come on. If you actually want to do this, then you can't be late."

"Will you be okay if I do it?" he asked, standing up. "I know the Principal will be mad."

"Yes, he will be." Mitsuko tried not to think about it. "And if I had any sense I'd rat you out right now." She sighed, looking at him apprehensively. "But then he'd win, and that'd be worse for everyone." A small smile threatened to creep onto her face. "Just promise me you'll rub it in his face. It'll help me get through the aftermath if I know you really hurt him."

A small smile grew on his face, nodding. "I'll try my best."

Her smile twitched, beginning to walk back to the assembly hall where everyone was gathering.

She walked back in with Takebayashi, Gakushuu was waiting backstage, the subtle signs of agitation beginning to show.

"Where have you been?" he asked curtly.

Takebayashi shrugged. "Mitsuko was helping me go over the speech."

Gakushuu's brow furrowed, looking at her suspiciously. "Really?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we were." She shrugged. "It wasn't your best work but we made do."

His eye twitched, forcing a polite smile. "How funny." He smiled too widely at Takebayashi. "They're just about ready for you." He took a step to the side and gesture to the stage curtain. "I hope you're ready?"

Takebayashi smiled thinly. "I think so." He gave Mitsuko one last glance before walking over to the curtain.

Mitsuko took a deep breath, staying calm.

Her brother stood by her side, crossing his arms. "What did you do?"

She gave him a side-along glance. "I didn't do anything."

_It wasn't a lie._

Gakushuu's eyes narrowed warily, but he looked up at the stage when Takebayashi walked on.

She swallowed dryly, holding her hands too tight.

Please don't get murdered.

"Please, listen to what I have to say," Takebayashi addressed the school. "In Class E, in which I stayed, is a gathering of weak people," he said, with some unsureness. "Because they lack what we call academic strength. They receive discriminatory treatment from everyone in the Main Campus building."

Mitsuko peeked her head forward to look at E Class, feeling her chest tighten when she saw Rio.

"But for me..." Takebayashi shrugged. "That Class E, is almost as comfortable to be in as a maid café."

She gulped, glancing at her brother.

"What is he doing?" Gakushuu hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I was lying," Takebayashi confessed as her brother grew livider. "Because I wanted to be strong, because I wanted to be accepted...but, even though I was the most useless among Class E, and betrayed them on top of that," he said, smiling slightly. "My classmates still came to see how I was doing many time." His voice grew fond. "Sensei, even for a student like me who had no knack for studying. He tried every method possible and schemed to teach me."

Her brother gritted his teeth. "That little..."

She grabbed his arm when he stepped forward. "Don't."

He glared down at her. "What did you do?"

Mitsuko squeezed his arm hard. "I already told you, I didn't do anything," she whispered coldly. "He just didn't want to be a pawn anymore. Which is more than I can say for us."

"All of you, who are aiming to be distinctly strong and be accepted by society...I believe you are right and I respect you," Takebayashi told them.

Gakushuu looked back at the stage, yanking his arm free from her grip. "He'll suffer for this."

 _Not as much as us,_ she wanted to say but held back.

"But for a little while longer, I'm fine with being weak," Takebayashi said, as he stared at the speech in front of him. "While bearing with weakness and enjoying weakness." He smiled warmly. "I will return to my life of aiming for the necks of the strong."

Her brother looked outraged, moving forward before she could stop him.

"Have you lost it, you damn pawn?!" Gakushuu looked like he was going to hit him. "Take it back and apologise, Takebayashi! If you don't—"

Gakushuu froze when he saw Takebayashi was holding the award.

"I swiped this from the chairman's room," Takebayashi said casually. "It's like a shield which commends a private school's best manager."

Her brother looked at her in horror, like she was the one holding the award.

Mitsuko kept her gaze cold, biting down hard on her tongue as her dread mounted.

"The Chairman is truly a strong person." Takebayashi took out a knife. "All his actions are rational."

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the knife.

_Did he have that this whole time?!_

She flinched when he smashed the award and sent shards of class across the stage.

"According to Asano-kun," Takebayashi continued smoothly. "In the past, another student who did this same thing or something like that. Thinking rationally, based on present..." Takebayashi smiled, turning to leave. "I'd say it's off to Class E for me as well."

The whole school was completely silent

"Hold on..." Gakushuu hissed, grabbing his shoulder when he moved nearer the stage curtain. "There really is no saving you, is there?" He whispered harshly. "And here we went through all this trouble to give you the chance to become strong."

"Strong?" Takebayashi turned to him as he pushed up his glasses. "It looked like a group of people who were just scared." He started to walk away, leaving Gakushuu in shock. "You and everyone else."

The whole assembly was completely in awe, and none looked happiest than Class E.

Mitsuko stared at her brother who was completely still. His fingers twitching like he was having a stroke.

Then the assembly broke out into loud whispers of amazement as the teachers hastily tried to clear them out.

She grimaced and stepped onto stage, grabbing his hand. "Come on, we should—"

He pulled his hand away like she'd burned him. " _Don't_ ," he said harshly, before marching off stage, leaving her standing on the spot alone.

* * *

The smashed remnants of the award were neatly laid down on the Principal's desk, resting on a light layer of tissue. He looked up from the smashed award to them, tilting his head slightly. "Well, this was an unfortunate development."

Mitsuko swallowed, clasping her hands behind her back while she and Gakushuu stood in front of the Principal.

None of them spoke.

The Principal stared at them both intently. "I believe, I specifically told you to make sure Takebayashi felt welcome, Asano."

Gakushuu noticeably stiffened, but glared back stubbornly. "I did."

"Clearly not well enough," he replied coldly. "But I suppose we can add that to the long list of your failures—it's growing quite fast."

Her brother gritted his teeth, lowering his gaze.

She felt a wave of guilt. "That's—"

"I don't recall granting permission for you to speak," the Principal interrupted sharply, turning his chair around a fraction.

Mitsuko's mouth clamped shut, heat rising to her cheeks.

The Principal looked at them both frigidly, before clasping his hands on the desk. "You both find it so _difficult_ to complete the simplest of instructions I give you." He leaned back in his chair. "Others might put it down to incompetence, but there would need to be some genuine lack of understanding for that." There was a pause. "No. I believe a lack of conviction is to blame." The Principal stood up. "A petulant need to sabotage."

She stared at a specific spot on the floor below his desk when he walked over to them.

"And if that was the case, then that would make the student an accomplice to the crime," he said lightly, standing behind them. "Mitsuko." She tensed when he placed a hand on top of her head. _"Speak."_

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. "Yes?"

"Would you be able to shed some light on Takebayashi stealing the trophy?" he asked lightly.

Her jaw tightened, keeping her face blank. "No, sir."

"Are you _absolutely_ sure?" His voice stayed calm, and she flinched badly when his nails dig into her scalp. "That you have _nothing_ to say?"

She closed her eyes tight, clenching her teeth.

_If I just tell him now then I can get it over with, riling him up will just make things worse._

_Just confess._

"Alright, fine." Mitsuko swallowed and looked up when his grip eased. "I—"

"I knew he took the trophy," Gakushuu interrupted.

Both she and the Principal looked over in surprise.

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Gaku-nii?"

Gakushuu levelled her with a sharp look. "I saw him take it as we were leaving the office. I'm well aware I should have reported it, but..." He looked over at the Principal. "Well, I can't lie and say I wasn't completely disgusted that you thought he actually made leadership material." He turned away in disdain. "But considering your history of poor judgement it's not exactly a surprise."

Mitsuko sucked in a breath and waited, straining to peek at the Principal from the corner of her eye.

"You knew he'd taken the trophy?" The Principal's voice was calm, taking a step around so he was in front of him.

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes with his. " _Yes_."

The Principal stared down at him intently, making her grow more on edge when their staring match lasted on and on.

Then the Principal smiled benignly. "Well, it's disappointing you felt a need to sabotage your classmate's education and help destroy personal property out of petty jealousy." He sighed loudly, the smile dropping when he looked over at her. "Mitsuko?"

"Yes?" she replied, keeping her expression passive when she looked up at him. "Sir?"

"Do you have anything to contribute to the conversation?" he asked lightly.

Mitsuko's maintained eye contact for a while, staring into the same violet eyes as hers. Her fingers twitched, hesitating for a long while. The back of her head still felt sore from where he's grabbed her.

"No, I don't..."

He tilted his head down at her, humming for a second before his smile returned. "Well, in that case, it seems you actually have more sense than your brother." He looked back at Gakushuu who was gritting his teeth in a snarl. "Who clearly still has much to learn."

Gakushuu looked down, glaring at the floor with a frightening amount of hatred.

"And clearly the lesson of respecting others property hasn't been understood correctly," The Principal continued, shaking his head faintly. "Mitsuko, wouldn't that kind of disregard creates a mess and be a blatant disrespect to our school."

Mitsuko felt a growing dread, looking at her brother worriedly while he stayed silent. "Uh..."

The Principal raised an eyebrow. "Isn't a simple yes or no answer."

She dug her nails into her palms. "No. I don't think it's disrespectful," she forced out, tensing when his gaze grew chilly.

"Well, I disagree," the Principal replied coldly, before turning back to Gakushuu. "Asano, you will be spending the evening cleaning the entire school."

Mitsuko gaped. "You can't make—"

The Principal raised a finger to find her. "You already said you had nothing to contribute to this conversation, Mitsuko." He turned back to her brother. "Well, Asano-kun?"

Gakushuu's eyes widened in distress, but he quickly tried to hide it. "...For how long?"

The Principal shrugged, walking back over his desk. "Until the job is done."

Mitsuko watched grimly as her brother struggled to keep his anger at bay.

"Mitsuko." The Principal drew her attention back as he sat down. "You may go home,"

She swallowed back bile, glancing back at Gakushuu who was refusing to look at either of them. Her gaze shifted back to the Principal, feeling a fresh spark of resentment before she had to look away unless she started glaring again.

"Mitsuko," the Principal spoke colder this time. "I told you to go home. I won't ask a third time."

She grimaced, feeling a spike of fear trail up her back when memories of last night came back like a harsh tug.

_Fighting this outright was not going to help._

Her gaze shifted from the Principal to her brother for a moment, before making her decision.

"Yes, sir," she replied tightly, giving Gakushuu another look, before stepping back to leave.

* * *

Sneaking back into the school when it was late wasn't hard when the spare key was hidden in a draw which was surprisingly easy to break open after only one or two failed attempts.

Mitsuko adjusted the backpack on her shoulders while she wandered down the dark corridors, trying to get towards the hallway on the second floor which still had a light on.

She'd made sure to grab some supplies after rushing home and changing out of her uniform and into a large warm pink jumper and thick leggings so she'd be able to clean and stay warm.

The guilt was already gnawing at her chest when she saw a large portion of the school floors were still dirty, and it was already nearly seven in the evening; the Principal couldn't seriously expect Gakushuu to stay all night?

She sighed, pausing by some stairs. "Why should I even be surprised?"

When Mitsuko found him he was scrubbing the floor with a brush that seemed to be making more mess than actually cleaning. He's dumped his blazer by the window and as she got closer her stomach gave a painful twist when she saw he wasn't wearing any protective gloves.

"Gaku-nii?" she stopped a little bit away from him, feeling the guilt start to become unbearable.

Gakushuu's lips pursed, sitting up from where he was sat on the floor. "Is there something you wanted?"

She almost smiled, even when sat on a floor cleaning he still managed to act like he was above it all; it set her a little more on ease.

"I brought you mushroom soup." Mitsuko slipped off the back-pack, walking over to sit next to him. "And a sweatshirt." She took out his favourite grey hoodie along with a hot flask. "I figured it would be cold."

He frowned, staring at the flask and hoodie for a moment before reaching out to take them. "...Thank you."

A genuine smile slipped onto her face. "Well, it's the least I could do." She looked around the hallway and sighed. "I'm sorry for fighting."

Her brother stayed quiet, slipping the hoodie over his school shirt. "Hm."

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably, looking at his hands; the skin was blistering. "Why don't you have gloves?" She grabbed his hand examining it worriedly.

Gakushuu yanked his hand free, scowling. "It's fine."

"No, it's not." She frowned, looking at him worriedly. "Come on, we'll go find some gloves."

"The cleaning closets are locked, I already tried," he replied evenly, staring at the bucket of water disdainfully.

Mitsuko looked up at the cameras angrily. "Sadistic bastard," she swore, standing up. "Come on, we'll go get some."

"I just said they were locked," Gakushuu replied impatiently.

She arched an eyebrow. "And since when has a locked closet stopped us?"

His scowl wavered briefly; he looked away and stood up, picking up the soup. "...The chemicals aren't even toxic."

She shook her head faintly and walked ahead. "Just come on."

They found a cleaning closet further down after passing the second hallway, and true to what he had said, it was locked.

"I told you so," Gakushuu said, as he unscrewed the lid of the flask. "I already tried."

Mitsuko was already taking the hair clips out of hair. "Oh, move over and let me work my magic," she remarked, tying her hair up to keep the loose strains out of her eyes. 

"It won't work," he commented, pouring some soup into the lid.

She gave him a look. "Out of the two of us, who's the one who spent the most time in the closet both physically and metaphorically?"

He nearly choked on his soup, swallowing it quickly as he drank.

"Yeah." She smiled crookedly, bending the hairpins to pick at the lock. "That's what I thought."

Gakushuu wiped his mouth, leaning against the wall as he watched her work. "You know he's not going to be happy you're here."

Mitsuko didn't lookup. "Well if he doesn't like it he can drag me home." She grinned when the lock started to click. "I'm not leaving you here alone all night."

Her brother stayed silent, not saying anything else until she'd finally unlocked the closet.

"Ah, ha!" she cheered, standing up to open the door fully. "Told you!" She smiled brightly at him, earning a blank look in response. "Come on." She reached into the closet and grabbed two pairs of blue rubber gloves. "Perfect."

"Thanks..." Gakushuu frowned faintly, sipping his soup as she handed him a pair. "Why are you...?" He looked annoyed when he saw her slip on the other set of gloves. "I don't need your help."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed another mop and bucket. "Too bad you're getting it anyway." She dumped some floor cleaner in the bucket. "I already said I'm not leaving you here all night. I'm helping."

He gave her a stubborn glare but she ignored him and started to walk back where they'd left the other bucket, he blocked her path by standing in front of her.

"I didn't take the blame just for you to get in trouble again," he said firmly.

"But you should be smart enough to know I'm not going to sit at home while you're suffering here," she replied just as stubbornly. "The more time you waste lecturing; the less time we have to clean."

He was silent for a moment, mouth pressed in a thin line until he eventually stepped to the side. 

Mitsuko smiled fondly and walk on ahead. "Come on, we can get some water from the bathroom."

* * *

They worked mainly in silence for a while.

Gakushuu sprayed and washed the windows while she mopped the hallway floor.

Mitsuko wiped some sweat from her brow when she paused to rest, leaning against the mop handle. She smiled faintly when she saw him meticulously scrub to remove the tiny stains on the window.

"Hey, remember when we were in Primary school and we forced Mrs Harada to pair us for Classroom duties?" she asked in amusement, thinking back.

His hand paused from cleaning, keeping his back to her. "I never begged. You were the one who wouldn't stop nagging," he told her in a clipped tone.

She grinned slyly. "I distinctly remember you telling her we couldn't be more than twenty feet apart or we'd feel pain."

"I never said that," he said stiffly, glancing at her from the side. "...It was thirty feet."

Mitsuko snorted, covering her mouth to smother a laugh. "Right, of course."

He scoffed, looking over his shoulder, unimpressed as usual. "I only agreed to the whole thing because _someone_ had to keep you from becoming a delinquent."

She shook her head and walked over, leaning the mob against the wall. "Didn't work though did it?"

He gave a low sigh. "No. It didn't."

She grabbed the flask off the window ledge to take a sip of the soup. "I'm sorry for getting you in trouble, but I couldn't rat Takebayashi out," she said quietly, cradling the warm flask in her hand. "And I couldn't let the Principal win."

Gakushuu scrutinised her, placing the cloth down. "I don't understand why you have to be so loyal to them." Some frustration leaked into his tone. "The whole reason we're in this mess is because of them. They're the ones who are ruining the system."

"Yeah, well maybe the system needs ruining," she replied, frowning. "Look, you might not like E Class, but even you have to admit they're strong. Maybe not in the way the Principal wants, but they're strong in a better way."

"That kind of strength won't last," he shot back stubbornly.

She looked exasperated. "And how do you know? You don't even know them." She sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "All I'm saying is that I think there's a better way..."

Her brother's lips stayed stuck in a thin line. "It's not the kind of strength we need."

_He's so stubborn._

Mitsuko sighed, resting her head against the window. "You're impossible." She took in a deep breath, staring out the window at the city ahead where the bright lights were shining like little dots on black hills. "Well, can we at least agree our dad's a horrible person and a failure of a father?"

He scoffed faintly, making her smile. "Obviously."

Her smile grew. "Good." Then she moved forward and hugged him. "Thanks for always trying to protect me."

He didn't exactly hug her back, but he placed his hand on her back, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "It's fine."

She chuckled, un-embracing him. "You know, being here isn't so bad." She took another sip of the soup before screwing the lid back on. "It's nice to spend time together again."

"I'm leaping with joy," he remarked dryly, spraying the window aggressively. "How are we even going to get this whole place spotless?" He scowled, looking around the hallway. "He expects us to fail."

"Then it's a good thing we love proving him wrong." She smiled warmly, rubbing her chin. "There has to be a quicker way to clean the floor..." She looked around and felt her gaze rest on the cloth in his hand, pausing. "...Hm." She closed one eye and raised her hands to try to measure the width of the hallway. "Huh..." Then her eyes lit up, turning back to him. "Know where we can get a bigger cloth?"

"A bigger cloth?" Gakushuu raised a brow, glancing at the hallway, catching on. "Well..." The corner of his lip twitched upwards. "The sports closet isn't hard to break into."

* * *

"You ready?" Mitsuko called, holding the other end of the grey lycra cloth used to cover the sports equipment.

Gakushuu came walking back, trailing the soupy water along the ceramic floor. "And the guarantee we won't fall and land on our faces is?"

"I'd say 70%?" Her smile grew into a slanted grin.

He placed the bucket by the doorway and moved to the other end of the cloth opposite her. "Just make sure to match my speed."

She bent down and pressed down on the cloth. "Oh, please, we both know I'm faster."

"Just shut up and push."

She felt a spark of joy when they rushed forward on their tiptoes, pushing the cloth along quickly to soak up the water right up until the other far end of the corridor.

"Nice!" She smiled proudly that it had actually worked.

Her brother wrinkled his nose when he lifted his shoe. "Some water got in my socks."

"It'll dry." Mitsuko shrugged, picking up the second cloth which had been left on that side. "Come on. Final wipe."

He sighed and grabbed the other end, repeating the same wipe as before.

By the time they'd covered all the hallways in the second and first floor, and then finally the ground floor, it was two in the morning and both their socks were soaked transparent.

Mitsuko collapsed on the cloth, letting out a groan. "Ugh! My feet!"

"We still have to clean the bathrooms." Gakushuu let out a deep breath, resting against the wall. "Remind me to murder Takebayashi before the Principal gets a chance."

"Don't be mean." She pushed herself back onto her knees, blowing some hair out of her face. "I think I might die..." She crossed her legs and took off her shoes and socks, revealing wrinkled damp feet. "Do you think dad gets a kick out of our suffering? I think it's his favourite pass-time."

Her brother rubbed his eyes where dark circles were forming. "I wouldn't put it past him—he does seem to enjoy it more than he should."

Mitsuko grimaced. "Yeah..." She rinsed her socks out in the bucket. "He keeps saying everything he does is for our benefit, but I'm still waiting to see that benefit." She placed her socks to dry on the window ledge and then walked over to Gakushuu, sitting down next to him. "What do you think?"

"I think he's an asshole," he replied bluntly.

She snorted, letting out a laugh. "Yeah, he is." Her smile weakened, staring tiredly at the window where the Crescent moon illuminated the sky. "But do you think he...you know, loves us?"

Gakushuu opened his eyes and looked at her warily. "Why would you even ask that?"

Mitsuko shrugged uncomfortably, crossing her legs. "It's just a question."

"...Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" he asked flatly and gestured at the cleaning equipment. "Does it look like he loves us?"

Her gut twisted harshly. "No, but..." She thought back to what Koro-sensei had said. "I still think he does." Her brother didn't say anything so she carried on. She swallowed thickly. "I think he loves us so much he thinks he's helping us by making us stronger no matter what the cost because it's the only way he knows how to show how much he loves us and that he's...he's afraid that if we aren't strong, he'll lose us..."

"You do realise how insane that sounds, right?" Gakushuu murmured, keeping his gaze narrowed at the cleaning equipment.

"Is it any crazier than the rest of the stuff he believes?" Mitsuko asked quietly, peering at him questionably. "Someone said that dad was afraid." She frowned, looking back at the moon. "And I thought that was crazy but now I think I'm starting to understand what he meant..."

"Well, it still sounds ridiculous," he replied dismissively.

She shrugged. "I'm still trying to understand it...but I think the main thing he was trying to tell me was that the Principal's strength is just built on fear, and that won't last."

"...And where on earth did they get that idea?" he questioned stiffly.

Mitsuko smiled fondly. "I honestly don't know." She thought back to all the conversations she'd had with Koro-sensei over the months. "From what I know, he has a complicated past and he made a lot of mistakes..."

"Well, don't they just sound trustworthy," Gakushuu said dryly, staring up at the ceiling blankly.

"Even if he's made mistakes, he still gave good advice," she argued, shrugging tiredly. "You're so dismissive all the time..."

"I'm realistic," he replied evenly.

"What, like you were this morning?" she muttered.

His eyes widened slightly, before frowning, staying quiet for a moment. "...I didn't actually mean what I said." He shifted his gaze away. "And just to be clear, while I do think my life would be less...unpredictable, with you in it..." He cleared his throat. She looked over curiously. "I...I enjoy having you for a sister, and you are...a very important person to me."

She felt something warm and sweet explode in her chest as a smile stretched across her face. "Are you trying to say I'm an amazing sister?"

His gaze narrowed. "No."

She tugged his arm, smiling sunnily. "Are you _sure_?" She wrapped her arms around his. "Because it sounded a lot like that!"

"Stop it." His glared darkened as she kept tugging on his arm. "That's not what I said."

She gushed. "Aw! Gaku-nii, you're such a softy!"

His cheeks were pink in contrast to the death glare he was giving her. "I hate you..."

Mitsuko laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're my best friend too," she said quietly, smiling softly. "And you always will be, no matter how much dad and everyone tries to make us hate each other."

His glare faded as she smiled up at him. "...I feel think same and the feeling is mutual," he replied stiffly, looking constipated.

She chuckled, letting go of his arm as she sat up. "Wow, I think this is the most emotional I've seen you since you pooed your pants when we were seven."

His face went bright red. "We agreed to never mention that!" The glare was back on his face. "And I was not emotional."

"You were crying."

"No, I was not!"

She shrugged. "I warned you that curry was out of date..."

"Utter another word and I'll throw you out of the window," he threatened coldly.

She laughed. "You're so easy to wind up," she teased, smiling fondly. "Rio used to make a game out of it," she said when her memories drifted back. "We'd have a point system based on how much we could get you to show you're angry—getting you to yell was triple points."

"Hm." Gakushuu gave her a curious look. "Yes, I remember. Ren used to think it was hilarious."

Mitsuko smiled despite the pain in her chest. "Yeah, he did..."

A silence settled between them for a while, as she stared at the crescent moon.

Her brother watched her for a while, frowning slightly. "...You really do still like her don't you?"

She looked over warily, giving a small shrug. "I still can't stop thinking about her...do you think it's really loved?"

He snorted. "Are you really asking me?" He raised an eyebrow. "How would I know? Girls are...hard to understand and I certainly don't have time for that nonsense."

Her smile grew crooked. "Of course you don't," she replied in amusement. "But it's not like mom or dad are good examples either..." Her smile faded. "I don't even know if it's all even worth it...or even if she wants me..." She rested her chin in her palm, resting her elbow on her knee. "But I'm starting to think maybe I don't have to be with her to be happy."

"What on earth would make you think you need to be with Nakamura, of all people, to be happy?" her brother replied in disbelief.

She shrugged again. "Because she always made me happy...but then so did E Class." There was a pause. "...I miss them." She felt something caught in her throat when she looked up at the sky. "I miss Bitch-sensei, the Old Campus...I miss being allowed to be weak."

Memories of stalking Rio with Sugaya, the lessons with Bitch-sensei and Koro-sensei came back, weighing down heavily.

Mitsuko rubbed her eyes when tears started to gather while Gakushuu stayed silent.

"I can't stay here, Gakushuu," she said quietly, missing them more the longer she looked at the sky and everything previous weighed down. "I need to go back to E Class."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now that's all the up-to-date chapters transferred.


	27. I need to be weak

“Not this again,” Gakushuu jumped to his feet the moment she said she wanted to go back to E Class. “I thought we talked about this?”

Mitsuko sighed, standing up. “No we didn’t, you decided the conversation was over.” She crossed her arms. Her brother’s face twitched, struggling to stay composed. “Gakushuu, I love you, but I’m not like you, and I don’t want to be,” she told him gently. “I miss my friends.” She smiled grimly. “It can’t just be us anymore, it’s okay to rely on other people.”

He stayed silent for a while, shifting slightly, agitated. “We…he isn’t just going to let you go back. He’ll just make things worse for you.”

“I still have to try,” she replied, frowning. “Either way, I can’t stay in A-Class, so you can try to stand in my way or you can help me.”

His lips pursed into a thin line, watching her with a hint of anger. “…I’m not going to force you to do anything, but you’re making a mistake and I’m not going to help you ruin your prospects for a bunch of delinquents.”

She fixed him with a look. “I didn’t have to help you clean but I still did,” she argued, catching him off guard. “Just like how you took the blame for me when you didn’t have to.” Her gaze grew hard. “I’m asking you to help because we’re twins and that’s the only reason we’ve ever needed to support each other, no matter how much we argue.”

He scowled, looking away from her. “You’re really pulling that card.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Gakushuu…”

He gritted his teeth. “Yes, I know.” His gaze was irritated. “Why do you have to be so difficult all the time?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I learned from the biggest drama queen there is,” she remarked dryly, raising an eyebrow at him.

Gakushuu scoffed, shaking his head. “You’re impossible, and still clearly not seeing the bigger picture as usual.” His nose wrinkled in displeasure. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

“You will?” Her brow rose, having expected him to sulk instead of actually somewhat agree.

“Yes,” he replied testily. “Preferably after we’ve finished cleaning so the Principal won’t murder us.”

She smiled slowly, feeling some tension leave her shoulders. “Okay. Deal.”

* * *

Mitsuko stirred faintly when she heard some light humming reach her ears.

When her eyes eased open she realised she and Gakushuu had collapsed on a sofa in a library after trying to clean the shelves—A blanket was over the both of them, with Gakushuu snoring, and resting his head on her shoulder.

She smiled in amusement when she saw him, but was distracted by the humming again.

Carefully, she eased his head off her shoulder and tucked the blanket around him while he slept. Mitsuko followed the sound around the bookcases and towards the back of the library where Koro-sensei was cleaning a bookshelf.

“Sir?” she whispered, causing him to look up.

“Oh, hello,” Koro-sensei greeted brightly. “I’m sorry I woke you. I was hoping to get this done before you woke up but I must have let time fly.”

“Why are you here?” She raised an eyebrow at the clean shelves. “And why are you cleaning?”

Koro-sensei sighed. “Well, Takebayashi was very adamant that I make sure you and your brother were alright after his speech,” he explained. “As were the rest of the class, and then I saw you and Asano-kun cleaning and I couldn’t very well just let you do it alone.”

Mitsuko felt a warm tug in her chest. “Oh…” She looked around the library properly, noticing that it was practically sparkling. “I see…but what about the cameras? We were the ones who were meat to clean.”

Koro-sensei chuckled. “Well, the cameras all around the school may or may not be mysteriously down for maintenance.”

The corner of her lip twitched up. “ _Oh, really_?”

“Either way I had to come. The whole class was determined to kidnap you to get you back to E Class, but I had to talk them down—kidnapping is a tricky business,” he continued, chuckling softly. She smiled fondly. “Nagisa especially was worried.”

Her smile faded, remembering the night before. “Yeah, I had a feeling he would be…” She forced her smile back on when she looked at him. “Thank you for helping.”

Koro-sensei nodded. “I couldn’t deny a student in need.” He looked at her pointedly. “Especially when they don’t look happy where they are.”

Her smile grew grim, leaning against the bookcase. “I’ve been thinking about what you said about the Principal, and about fear.” She looked at him and sighed. “And it made me think about a lot of things…and how he wasn’t always…” She swallowed thickly. “He wasn’t always like this.”

“No, he wasn’t.” Koro-sensei nodded, sitting on the floor. “Fear can make us think we’re justified for making harmful decisions.”

She nodded faintly, shifting uneasily. “…When things started to change, I kept telling Gakushuu I wanted things to go back to normal.”

Koro-sensei was quiet for a moment. “Some things are harder to get back once they’re gone.”

Mitsuko grimaced. “I really messed things up with Rio…” She looked up at Koro-sensei searchingly. “And I kept blaming her, but that wasn’t fair.” She curled her arms around herself. “It’s like I can never explain things properly with her. I either say too much or not enough.”

“As is the way with young love,” Koro-sensei sounded amused, patting her on the head. “As someone who has seen both sides, I strongly recommend you talk to Nakamura, at least to clear the air.”

Mitsuko hummed, frowning when she remembered what Karma had said. “I just don’t like being vulnerable.”

“Hardly anyone does,” Koro-sensei replied. “But sometimes we have to make ourselves weak to become stronger.”

She looked up at him thoughtfully. “You really think so?”

Koro-sensei chuckled faintly. “Yes. It’s a lesson I live by.” Then he looked over his shoulder. “It seems your brother will be waking up soon.” He stood up and moved away. “I shall take my leave.” His smile was warm. “I will ask you to try to visit the Old campus to at least reassure your classmates before they resort to drastic measures.”

She smiled faintly, standing up. “I’ll try.”

He looked pleased, nodding as he was half out of the door. “Thank you, and good luck.”

Mitsuko looked around the bookcase when she heard Gakushuu yawn. “Hey,” she greeted, walking back over when he stirred awake. “Morning.”

Gakushuu sat up, trying to rub away the dark bags under his eye, looking unusually unpruned with his hair out of place and wrinkled clothes. “What time is it?”

She glanced at the clock. “5:30 in the morning.” She smiled, sitting next to him. “We actually managed to finish cleaning on time.”

His brow furrowed. “What are you…?” He trailed off, looking around the very clean library in confusion. “How—?”

“I carried on cleaning after you passed out,” she lied, shrugging. “We already cleaned so much beforehand anyway.”

Gakushuu looked more confused. “We did?” His frown deepened. “I don’t reme—“

“Well, I keep telling you you’re working yourself to an early grave,” she chimed in, smiling brightly. “Don’t worry about it—the important thing is that the school is clean.”

He stared at her suspiciously for a while until his frown faded. “Okay…” He ran a hand over his face and shook his head. “I’m going to the locker rooms to shower.”

“Okay.” Mitsuko nodded, standing up. “We can steal some coffee from the teachers’ lounge and then raid the vending machines.”

He nodded, standing up as he regained his bearing. “Yes. We’ll do that.” His frown returned when he noticed the blanket, picking it up. “Where did you get this?”

She shrugged, already turning to leave. “It’s the librarians’, just leave it behind the desk.”

“…Right.”

She struggled to hold back a laugh at how confused he sounded.

* * *

It was just before the first period when the Principal decided to deliver his verdict on the cleaning work done.

Mitsuko stood next to her brother, watching the Chairman run a finger down the window in the hallway.

“Hm.” Their father couldn’t even find a speck of dirt on the glass. “Very thorough.”

The corner of Gakushuu’s lips twitched upwards. “I assume that means the job was more than satisfactory?”

Mitsuko tried not to smile when she saw their dad’s set in a thin line.

The Principal scrutinised them both before he rested his gaze on her. “I told you to go home while Asano cleaned.”

She stood straighter, shrugging. “I did go home—but I needed to bring him food.” She raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t just expect him to starve?” She decided to take a gamble. “Besides, Gaku-nii did clean, you can check the CCTV if you don’t believe us.”

Their dad looked like he’d swallowed something rotten. “Mysteriously enough, all the cameras were down throughout the night.”

Gakushuu looked curious briefly, but then shrugged. “Well, you can’t blame us for your lack of maintenance.”

The Principal smiled at them tightly. “Oh, I will be looking into the cause, not to worry.” The smile dropped quickly when he took a step towards them; making her tense up. “I trust that I won’t need to repeat this lesson in future?”

Her brother’s eyes narrowed. “No, sir.”

“Good.” The Principal spared a suspicious glance at the Old Campus briefly. “Then I won’t keep you from your first lesson. You may go.”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Mitsuko and Gakushuu hurried off to their first lesson of the day, fighting off exhaustion.

“At least we got some sleep,” Mitsuko muttered as they walked into class; not even Hisaya-sensei had arrived yet. “We can grab some more energy drinks at lunch.”

Gakushuu hummed, dumping his bag on his desk. “Did you really clean the rest of the school when I fell asleep?” he asked, frowning at her.

Mitsuko paused, shrugging a second later. “Well, who else would have cleaned it?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Not everything is a conspiracy, Gaku-nii.”

He still looked unconvinced. “Very well, I’ll take your word for it,” he said as two and three more students started to walk into class.

She smiled sweetly and walked over to her desk, placing her bag on the side before taking out her workbook and pencil case.

“Hey, Mitsuko,” Ren leant on her desk. “I didn’t see you at my party last night.”

She sighed, opening her book to the notes she’d made yesterday. “Yeah, sorry, I was busy.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He sat down in the seat next to her which was Juba’s. “So I was thinking we could hit the Karaoke bar after school.”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “Again?”

“Well, you rushed out last time,” he said, shrugging. “And Koyama really sucked.” He smiled sweetly. “Come on, it’ll be fun—“

From the front row, Gakushuu cleared his throat loudly, earning their attention.

She rolled her eyes while Ren smiled nervously at her brother who was glaring at him. “I’ll think about it, Ren.”

“Great.” Ren was all bright smiles again, standing up out of the seat to the relief of Juba who had been awkwardly waiting for him to move.

She shook her head and faced the front when Hisaya-sensei walked into class.

It didn’t take long for things to return to the same pace as yesterday, with their teacher talking a thousand times per second while a majority struggled to take notes and keep up.

Mitsuko stopped writing when her wrist started to hurt, sighing deeply when she saw how frantic her classmates were acting, trying to keep up.

Her gaze shifted to the mountains, feeling an overwhelming longing start to take over.

There had to be another way to get back.

“Asano.”

Ritsu would have an idea…if I hadn’t pissed her off.

She grimaced, feeling her guilt resurface.

“No—not you, Asano-kun—Mitsuko Asano!”

Her head jerked up to the blackboard where Hisaya-sensei was looking at her impatiently.

“Uh…” Heat rose to her cheeks. “Yes, sir?”

A few of her classmates sniggered in amusement, making her blush harder.

Hisaya-sensei narrowed his eyes. “I know E Class isn’t nearly at the same pace, but try to keep up and pay attention to the board, Asano-san,” he remarked, making her scowl. “Please come answer the question on the board.”

_Oh, great…_

“Oh, right.” She sweated a little, standing up to go to the front. “Uh, yeah, okay…” She took the chalk and hastily looked over the problem, analysing Mr Hisaya’s theory briefly.

_Oh, okay…this is just basic DNA structure._

She sighed a little in relief and started to work out the answer.

Koro-sensei taught them about the main nucleotides when they’d asked about his DNA structure, so working out the basic key human strand wasn’t that difficult—

“What are you doing?” Hisaya interrupted her before she finished.

She paused, looking up. “Connecting the DNA strands. See.” She labelled each one correctly. “It’s a breakdown of the double helix.”

“Why does it look like an octopus?” Tsuda asked.

It did look like octopus tentacles and the smiley face wasn’t exactly traditional.

Mitsuko gave a nervous laugh when she realised. “Uh! Well, it’s just another way of remembering it, I guess!” She started to explain the more simplified theory to the rest of the class. “…Once you breakdown that and understand they’re connected it’s easier to remember.”

Her classmates were staring at the board in surprise.

“Hey! That’s way simpler!” Kondo exclaimed.

Hisaya-sensei bristled. “No. It’s ineffective!” He snapped, setting the rest of the class on edge. “This is not the way to work out the answer.” He started to rub it out. “And it will not get you the marks you need on your tests.”

Mitsuko frowned. “Yes, it will!” she argued, crossing her arms. “It’s not like the answer is wrong.”

“It does not explain the process accurately,” he told her sternly, wiping the board blank. “Your teacher in Class E may have liked cutting corners, but you’re in A-Class now, please try to remember that.”

_Are you serious?!_

She felt her temper spark. “What are you talking about? It explains the process just fine,” she kept arguing, ignoring the look her brother was shooting her.

“No, it does not.” Mr Hisaya’s gaze narrowed. “It’s ineffective—“

“The only thing ineffective is your teaching!” she snapped at him, causing her classmates to gasp.

A dark enraged look overclouded Hisaya-sensei’s face.

_Oh, shit._

From the corner of her eye, she saw Gakushuu sigh and bury his face in his palm.

* * *

“The first period hasn’t even ended yet,” The Principal said dryly when she stood in front of him. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

Mitsuko grimaced, holding her hands tightly. “He was being rude.”

Her dad raised an eyebrow. “As were you.” He leaned back in his chair. “What am I to do with you, Mitsuko?” He sighed, shaking his head. “You seem determined to sabotage every opportunity I give you.”

She shifted on the spot. “Not intentionally for the most part,” she replied lightly. “But with all due respect, sir, it’s not like those opportunities were solely for my benefit.” Her gaze narrowed. “You keep using me to motivate Gakushuu,” she accused. “It’s not like you actually believe in me…”

“If I didn’t believe in you, I would have left you in E Class to rot,” he replied coldly, something gleaming in his eyes.

_I wish you did._

She bit down on her tongue. “No, instead you’re threatening to send me away to be someone else’s problem.”

“As a last resort,” he replied in a clipped tone, watching her closely. “An option I wouldn’t need to explore if you just _listened.”_

Mitsuko bit down hard on her tongue, trying to think of a way to get out of this before he really did ship her off.

If Koro-sensei had taught her anything, it was that her dad really was afraid, and obsessed that she like everyone else believed his entire philosophy.

Her thoughts lingered back to Takebayashi and how he’d completely flew under the Principal’s radar.

 _Sometimes we have to make ourselves weak to become stronger_.

_Wait._

She quickly schooled her features. “I…I’m sorry,” she apologised. “I am listening, but if Mr Hisaya can’t even argue his point efficiently then he needs to learn how to control a class.”

The Principal raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really now?”

Mitsuko shrugged, taking a step closer to the desk. “It’s true. How I can be re-educated when my teacher can barely hold an argument without getting flustered.” She shrugged. “Say what you want about Koro-sensei, but at least he could make a good argument.”

He scrutinised her curiously. “While Mr Hisaya is lacking in…some key teaching aspects, that does not mean you are allowed to disrespect him.”

“Then I’ll happily apologise,” she replied dryly, crossing her arms. “But if we’re also on the subject of patience, I want what I deserve,” she said firmly. “I want that power you told me I could have.” She scowled. “I refuse to be overlooked anymore, especially from you and Gakushuu.”

Her dad looked intrigued. “Interesting.” He tilted his head slightly. “I don’t imagine your brother will be happy about that.”

She grimaced, looking away. “No, he won’t…” She sighed. “But as much as I love him, I can’t just stay in his shadow, not when there isn’t much time left.” Her eyes narrowed at him. “I need to be stronger…and I know I can be…difficult at times.” He raised his brow at that. “But I can prove to you that I’m worth giving a chance.”

Her dad stared at her for a long while like she was bacteria under a microscope. “Hm.” Then he reached into his drawer and took out a thick file and placed it on the desk. “There is a list of budget revivals I want to be made for the upcoming festival this term—match the budget the to the overall revenue needed.”

Mitsuko was a little surprised, taking the folder. “Okay…”

He closed the drawer with a sharp click. “And, keep in mind, that if I see or much as hear that you have had contact with any members of Class E, you will be out of this school and on the next flight to some distant school where I no longer have to deal with you.”

She gulped, losing some of her nerves as she held the folder close to her chest. “I understand, sir…”

“Hopefully better than the previous times,” he remarked lightly, tilting his chair away from her to face the window. “Now leave and apologise to Mr Hisaya…I will be having words with him later to bring to light his shortcomings.”

She almost felt sorry for the old A-Class teacher. _Almost_.

* * *

“I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d actually come,” Ren said brightly, sipping from his soda while the two of them were at the local karaoke bar.

Mitsuko forced a friendly smile, sitting opposite him at the table. “Well, you know I can’t resist a good karaoke match, Ren…”

Ren chuckled, smoothing his hair back in the reflection of his front phone camera. “Yeah, our vocals are amazing together.” He flashed her a bright smile with his perfect teeth. “We could definitely make it as professionals—in fact, there’s this competition coming up—“

“Uh, I’m pretty busy, Ren,” she interrupted quickly. “Besides, wouldn’t that take the fun out of it?”

He paused, mulling that over. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he agreed, nodding. “So, how have you been?”

She shrugged, sipping her raspberry soda. “Okay, I guess...things have just been a little, intense lately.”

His smile wavered, dimming. “Yeah, things have been kind of tense…I noticed Asano-kun seemed a little, uh…well, more uptight than usual.”

“Yeah, he’s got a lot going on,” she replied, rubbing her arm. “But anyway, I was just wondering something, considering experience with girls and all…”

His smile grew sly. “Yes?”

“Well, have you ever dated a girl with super overprotective parents or something?” she asked, shrugging.

His smile grew slyer. “Oh, yeah, lots,” he replied, leaning back in his chair. “Kind of makes it more fun though—that old romance forbidden love kind of thing, you know?”

“Uh, yeah. Anyway, how did you get around it?” she questioned, frowning.

“Oh, there are tonnes of ways,” he told her confidentially. “First off, parents always underestimate how smart their kids are, but they’re also really paranoid. Like this one girl, her parents used to track her phone with spyware, and always checked her call logs from the phone provider.”

Mitsuko frowned. “I didn’t think about that…”

“Hardly anyone does unless you have the experience,” Ren replied, waving his hand dismissively. “The second mistake people make is meeting in public places. I always had the girls comes over to mine to hang out, that way they can just make up an alibi for something.”

She nodded, making a mental note. “Okay, but what if the parents always check the alibi?”

“Well, that’s always a risk,” he replied, shrugging. “So they always told their parents they were going to public places with lots of people, makes it harder to check—plus they always had a friend to back-up the alibi.”

“But what about the whole phone thing?” she asked.

Ren grinned and reached into his pocket. “Extra phone.” He pulled out a cheap-looking phone. “My parents were starting to notice, so I transferred all my girls onto this little baby.”

Her eyes widened in interest. “That’s pretty smart.”

“Yeah, I know.” He smoothed his hair back. “So why all the questions, Mitsuko?” He leaned forward. “I get how strict your dad can be, so if you’re looking for discretion…”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I’m flattered, Ren, but I think we work best as friends.”

“We can still be friends with some benefits,” he teased lightly.

“Uh, no,” she replied dryly. “I don’t think so.”

His brow creased, leaning away. “But we used to make-out all the time.”

“Yeah, for fun,” she replied dismissively. “I’ve grown past that, and besides I don’t know where your mouth’s been.”

“Hey!” He looked offended.

She chuckled. “Sorry, Ren.” She smiled warmly. “I’m just not really into that right now.”

He looked put out and a little hurt. “Then why are you asking these types of questions?”

She sighed. “Look, I can’t really explain it, but if you give me some advice I’ll sing two duets with you.”

Ren was quiet, frowning. “Just three duets?”

“Okay _, four_.”

“Five, because you insulted my mouth,” he haggled, making her groan in exasperation.

_Five?_

_Ugh…_

“Okay, fine. _Five_ duets.”

He smiled again. “Okay, good then it’s a deal.” He sipped his soda, smiling slyly again. “So what advice do you need?”

“Well.” She tried to think of how to phrase it. “I assume there are been times you’ve pissed off a few girls you’ve dated?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, a few.”

She rolled her eyes. “Right. So, how did you win them back?”

Ren looked at her curiously. “…Well, girls always like grand gestures—flowers, poetry, that kind of thing.” He smirked to himself. “And you have to be spontaneous, surprise her so she won’t have time to avoid you.” He finished his drink will a long slurp from his straw. “I once climbed to this girl’s window with flowers—we made out for an hour after.”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, she thought it was really romantic,” he said, shrugging back against his chair. “Girls love that kind of stuff.”

“Uh, huh…” Mitsuko rubbed her chin.

Ren smiled crookedly. “But boys are a lot different, so the advice is kind of redundant.”

“Oh yeah.” She smiled sheepishly. “I guess. I’m just curious.”

He gave her a look. “Right, sure.”

She scowled. “Well, what else would it be?”

He shrugged again, the smile growing. “Nothing I guess.” Then his eyes lit up when he saw the karaoke stage was free. “But who cares.” He grabbed her hand as he stood up. “We have five duets to get through!”

She held back a sigh as he dragged her out of her seat and towards the stage. 


	28. Rio Nakamura's Different Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N Okay so this was in the works for a while, so I've just edited it, hence the super quick update.

When she was seven...

Rio sighed, curling up against some steps near the back of the primary school during break. It was quiet here, and none of her classmates was around to gawk at her like she was an animal in the zoo.

The little brown-haired girl sighed, wishing the teachers hadn't introduced her as 'bright' and 'extremely gifted'.

Making friends was hard enough and since her mom was retiring from modelling and her dad's job was going to be permanent at the advertisement agency, it looked like they wouldn't be moving around from place to place like they used to.

She turned the page of her book, sitting comfortably on the steps.

"What are you reading?" a curious voice behind her made her jump.

Rio turned around quickly and frowned when she saw a girl about her age walk around to her. The girl had strawberry blonde hair that was tied in pigtails, and bright big violet eyes which were staring at her curiously.

Rio blushed, burying her face in her book. "Um...it's called Snow Country."

The girls face lit up. "I've read that!" She grinned, rushing over to her. Rio curled away slightly when she sat next to her on the steps. "I wasn't supposed to, but my dad didn't notice it was missing." Then her smile grew. "I've already read it all—how far along are you?"

"Um, I'm only half-way through," Rio replied shyly. "I'm not meant to have it either..." She picked at the corner of her book. "Um, my name is Rio Nakamura..."

"Yeah, I know!" The girl grinned. "My name's Mitsuko Asano."

_Asano?_

Rio frowned when she remembered that Asano boy who had kept glaring at her when she'd got the right answer instead of him in class.

Mitsuko did look a lot like him.

"Is that other Asano boy your—"

"Yes!" She bounced up and down. "We're twins," she said proudly. "He's older, but only by a few minutes—he's also really smart."

Rio nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed. "Um, yeah, he seems smart."

"Uh, huh—ooh!" Mitsuko clapped her hands suddenly, making Rio jump. "Let's go play hopscotch!" She grabbed her hand, yanking her to her feet. "I know a game where we have to add up the numbers and—"

Rio looked unsure, struggling to keep up. "I don't really know." She pulled away, making Mitsuko frown. "I don't think the other kids like me..."

Mitsuko looked confused. "What?" Then her frown deepened. "That's not true. They don't even know you so how can they not like you?"

She tugged the end of her hair nervously. "What if they make fun of me?"

A very serious look clouded Mitsuko's face. "They won't make fun of you if you're with me," she told her confidently. "And if they do, I'll just get my brother and his friends to beat them up." Her smile was sweet like sugar. "So don't worry!"

Rio stared at her in surprise, wondering how she could be so confident about that. No one had ever offered to stand by her like that before, or at least sounded like they meant it.

A faint blush crept onto her face as she took Mitsuko's hand. "Okay, then."

* * *

When she was eight...

Rio started to realise very quickly that Gakushuu Asano didn't like her very much.

He'd do little things like scowl when she got the right answer before him when the teacher asked, or when she got a better score than him.

She didn't really understand why he was so popular though, or why the kids thought it was so cool that he got top scores while they thought the opposite when she got better.

Even the teachers praised him it was different, they talked about him like he was 'amazing', 'spectacular', and a 'genius', while all Rio got was 'such a smart girl' and 'well done'.

_It wasn't fair!_

So she did jump at the opportunity when Mitsuko proposed they prank him and the other boys after they had said they couldn't play soccer with them at break time.

This was her first real prank, so Rio was excited and could barely hold back a grin as she carried in the bucket of frogs they'd stolen from the school pond.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Rio asked as they snuck into the boys' changing room.

Mitsuko grinned. "Oh, yeah, they'll be fine!" She placed her own bucket on one of the benches. "The boys finish in five minutes, so we have to be quick."

Rio nodded and carefully took out a frog one by one to place in each boys' school bags so that when they opened it the green frog would jump out.

Mitsuko did the same until the bucket was empty and the bags were moving slightly from the small creatures wriggling inside.

"Do you think they'll know it's us?" Rio whispered, starting to grow concerned.

_What if they got in trouble?_

Mitsuko smiled brightly. "As long as we don't get caught we'll be fine." She grabbed the remaining buckets and hid them behind the bench. "That's why we have an alibi!"

Rio nodded, smiling. "Right!"

The two of them hid just outside the changing rooms and wait, making Rio smile more because these were the moments she liked best when it was just the two of them where not everything was about school.

If she was being honest, school wasn't as fun as it used to be since now everyone was worrying about getting into the best Middle-school—Mitsuko had said she'd already started taking practice entrance exams which Rio had found a little strange since not even their teachers had started doing that.

"Listen," Mitsuko whispered excitedly as the boys started to pile into the changing room.

Rio's smile was wide as she listened in anticipation until she heard the first boy give a high-pitched scream.

"GET IT OFF!!"

"STAY STILL, IDIOT!!"

Rio clapped her hand over her mouth to smother her giggling as the boys started yelling.

"Ren, will you stop screaming?!"

"It's in my hair!!"

* * *

When she was nine...

Rio really liked Mitsuko a lot, and she didn't completely dislike Gakushuu that much even though he could be a jerk sometimes. She even kind of liked Mrs Asano sometimes, even though she could be grumpy most of the time.

But, she didn't like Mr Asano at all.

She didn't like how his smile and suits were always perfect and neat.

She didn't like how Mitsuko and Gakushuu would be really quiet when he was around or how Mr Asano had laughed when her mom had said they were the most perfectly well-behaved children she'd met.

And, she didn't like how scared Mitsuko looked when they all left the Principal's office after being caught trying to skip school.

"Thanks for smoothing things over, Asano..." Her mom looked embarrassed, and a little less put together than she normally was since she'd had to rush out to Rio's school last minute—her brown bob was a little dishevelled like the silk scarf around her neck.

Mr Asano, in contrast, was perfectly put together like always and hadn't stopped smiling once after shaking Principal Hiroshima's hand and apologised for the inconvenience.

"It's no problem at all," he replied as Principal Hiroshima went back in his office. "Hiroshima and I have known each other for years."

Her mom was smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, I'll probably have to start attending those parent and faculty meetings to get back in his good books." She then raised an eyebrow down at Rio. "Since _somebody_ decided it would be a bright idea to skip classes."

Rio blushed. "Sorry..."

It was embarrassing because the plan had meant to be full-proof! The only thing that had ruined things had been the heavy rain since that meant they'd had to run into a café for shelter during lunch and then bee found out by one of the teachers who was drinking a coffee there.

Besides, Rio had decided she didn't like school anymore since it wasn't as fun as it used to be, and what was the point of getting good grades if the teachers kept praising Gakushuu because he got slightly better?!

Having fun seemed much more important than getting the best grades anyway, and it wasn't like she wasn't still getting good grades...just maybe not as good as they could be.

Her mom sighed, looking at her and then Mitsuko. "I mean, what were you girls thinking?"

"Oh, you know how children can be," Mr Asano said lightly, placing a hand on the top of Mitsuko's head while she stood next to him with her gaze lowered. "They just don't appreciate how important education is."

Rio frowned when she saw Mitsuko grimace and bunch her hands tightly in the fabric of her school skirt.

"That's for sure." Her mom sighed loudly. "You can expect no TV for at least two weeks, young lady!"

Rio looked up at her mom in alarm. "But, mom!"

Her mom fixed her with a stern look. "I can make it a month?"

Rio wisely shut her mouth, scowling.

Her mom shook her head and smiled at Mr Asano. "Uh, anyway, sorry about this." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh, by the way, I never got chance to thank you for the recommendation with Laredo, he's still gushing about the award."

Mr Asano raised his hands humbly. "I merely handed out the award, he did all the hard work." His smile softened into something less perfect and more real. "He's a very hard-working student. We're lucky to have him."

"Thank you!" Her mom's smile grew happier. "Anyway, please give your wife my best. Asano-chan said she was away."

"Yes, she's visiting family," Mr Asano replied. "But she'll be back soon." He checked the time on his watch. "Well, we should get going. My son's already waiting in the car and this rain isn't going away anytime soon."

"Yeah, we should get going as well, we need to pick up her brother," her mom said, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. "Say goodbye, girls."

Before Rio could open her mouth, Mitsuko lurched forward and tackled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm sorry I got us in trouble," she whispered in Mitsuko's ear.

"It's okay," the other girl mumbled, clinging onto her tighter. "It was fun..."

Rio smiled faintly, nodding, but at the same time, there was a bad feeling in her stomach. There was something wrong but she couldn't really understand what it was, but she did start to feel uncertain when Mitsuko clung onto her as minutes passed.

She saw Mr Asano's perfect smile crack just a little. " _Mitsuko_." 

Mitsuko slowly pried her hands away from around Rio and pulled away. 

Rio felt like pulling her back for some reason. "Bye, Mitsu," she said, smiling as she held her mom's hand.

"Bye..." Mitsuko replied quietly as she was steered away, making Rio's smile falter.

* * *

When she was ten...

It was the first big party she'd been too and Mitsuko and Gakushuu had invited their whole class to a girls vs boys laser quest game that had ended with the boys winning because most of the girls on their team were complete idiots.

Rio was still recovering when they were all sat down for food and drinks. She was sat next to Mitsuko and Gakushuu near the end of the table while the other kids were gathered around presenting a mountain of presents.

She forced her nerves down as she carefully lifted the heavy and securely wrapt gift onto the table.

Mitsuko gave her a sparkling smile that matched the silver party dress she'd changed into after the game. "Thanks, Rio." She then practically ripped the wrapping paper to pieces to see what was inside.

Once unwrapped, there were Two Tiger Loach fish were swimming around in a large plastic tub.

"Wow!" Mitsuko grinned.

The other children leaned over the table to get a better look at the present.

Rio smiled, sitting up straighter in her seat. "My mom and dad helped me pick them out," she said, resting her chin her hand, watching Mitsuko's reaction with interest. "You like them?"

_Please like it._

Mitsuko's smile grew. "I love them!" she answered brightly, holding the small Tupperware up to the light. "I've never had a pet before!"

Rio's shoulders relaxed. "Thanks. I'm sorry I couldn't get you a proper tank." She rubbed her neck sheepishly. "I spent all my allowance money on the fish."

Mitsuko's smile wavered briefly. "Oh, it's okay. I don't mind buying one." She looked over at her mom who had been watching the whole thing with a blank expression. "Am I allowed, mom?"

Rio frowned when she looked over at Mrs Asano who had raised an eyebrow from her seat at the end of the table.

"Yes, you're allowed," Mrs Asano replied lightly, sipping her brightly coloured drink.

Mitsuko's face lit up again. "Thank you!" Then she placed the bowl down and looked at Rio warmly. "Thanks, Rio..." Then, hesitantly, she reached over and hugged her, making Rio feel a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest blossom like a flower.

Mitsuko hugged her a little too tight. "You're a good friend..."

Rio frowned a little. "Oh, thanks..." She smiled faintly and patted her on the back, looking quite smug when the other girls glared at her. "How about next year I get you a rabbit? How much love will that get me?"

Mitsuko laughed, holding her tighter for some reason.

"It's only fish..." Another girl, Haruhi, grumbled, crossing her arms.

Rio blushed, shooting a glare at her over Mitsuko's shoulder. "At least I didn't just buy her a food stamp."

The other kids burst out laughing while Haruhi turned bright red. "It's a gift card!"

"Rio," Mitsuko chided without meaning it, smiling as she pulled away. "Don't be mean."

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "We need to open other presents."

"Yeah, open mine!" Sakakibara yelled, shoving the gift in the unimpressed boy's face.

Rio grinned and then stuck her tongue out at Haruhi when Mitsuko wasn't looking.

* * *

When she was eleven...

Rio felt her heartbreak a little when she caught Sakikabara and Mitsuko kissing behind the auditorium during lunch.

"What are you doing?!" Rio snapped before she could stop herself.

The two of them broke apart and Mitsuko blushed bright pink when she saw her.

"U-uh, Ren was just teaching me how to kiss!" Mitsuko rushed to explain, embarrassed.

Sakakibara smiled in a way that made Rio want to punch him. "Yeah, we're just having fun, Nakamura." He pulled Mitsuko closer towards him. " _Relax._ "

Rio felt a burning jealous rage. "Get off her you creep!" She yelled, yanking Mitsuko away from him.

"Rio!" Mitsuko objected as she was dragged off.

"Hey!" Sakakibara looked annoyed. "We were in the middle of something!"

"We were just kissing, Rio..." Mitsuko frowned as she was marched off back to the school.

Rio shot her a glare. "It's gross!" She scowled, wrinkling her nose up in disgust as they stopped outside the entrance. "Especially with Sakakibara of all people—what if he has cooties?!"

Mitsuko smiled in amusement. "Cooties aren't real, Rio."

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "I bet they are with him—he kisses lots of girls, I've seen him!"

Mitsuko shrugged, smiling still. "I know, but it's just for fun, and besides, he's my friend."

"Well, so am I but you don't kiss me," Rio blurted out, and then froze.

_Uh..._

To her confusion, Mitsuko looked away. "Well, that's different..."

Rio tensed, trying to hide her nerves. "W-well, yeah, duh!" She rolled her eyes. "But it's still better than kissing him!"

Mitsuko chuckled softly, looking up with a bright smile. "Yeah, I guess so."

* * *

When she was twelve...

It was her grandad's 80th so the whole family had gathered to celebrate over the weekend. Her Mom was busy buying more food with her aunt while she and grandma would be preparing appetisers for the rest of the family that got here.

"You really shouldn't have dyed your hair, Rio." Her grandma tutted, braiding the newly blonde hair into a single plait so it wouldn't get in the way while they were cooking and baking.

"I like it," Rio replied stubbornly, smiling when she looked at the blonde strands. "Mom says it looks cool."

Her grandma rolled her eyes and kissed the top of her head. "Of course she did." Then she pulled away and washed her hands under the sink. "Come on, I'll get the rice ready while you roll it."

Rio nodded, flipping the braid over her shoulder. "Okay."

They worked in a nice silence for a while, which she liked a lot since it was peaceful. Rio smiled to herself and hummed along to the radio in the kitchen. Making snacks was a lot more fun than having to help cook the big meals, which Laredo was always trying to avoid whenever their mom asked him to help out—he always got away with it too!

She wondered if the same thing happened to Mitsuko when Mrs Asano cooked meals. Her thoughts lingered on Mitsuko a bit longer, reminding her of something she'd been thinking about lately.

"Grandma?" Rio frowned, pausing from wrapping her sushi roll.

Grandma looked over, fixing her grey streaked hair into a bun. "Yes?"

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" she asked bluntly.

Her grandma froze, eyes widening. "What?"

Rio's frown deepened, shifting uneasily. "...Have you ever kissed a girl?"

The older woman was quiet for a long time, staring down at her. "...No," her voice was stiff, turning back to lumping up the rice. "Why on earth would I do that?"

Something like a pit settled in Rio's stomach. "So you haven't even thought about—"

"No," she snapped, surprising her. "Of course I haven't."

"...But my mom kisses me on the cheek all the time."

"That's a different type of kissing." Her grandma looked annoyed. "When it's on the lips, girls kiss boys. They don't think about kissing other girls like that."

_That's not true!_

Rio's stomach twisted, feeling out of place. "But the internet—"

"Rio." Her grandma sounded eve more, and a little worried even. "Just because the internet says it's alright to do, doesn't actually make it right." Then she frowned. "People may have different opinions, but it's still wrong no matter how you look at it."

The pit in Rio's stomach sunk lower. "I don't think it's wrong..."

Grandma stared at her for a long moment before she sighed and shook her head. "We need to get these snacks ready by lunch," she changed the subject. "If you're going to talk nonsense then you can go help your dad and your brother fix the bench outside."

Rio scowled, biting down on her tongue, handling the rolls a little too roughly.

* * *

When she was thirteen,

Rio quickly looked away when she started to get a weird butterfly feeling in her stomach when Mitsuko got changed into her pyjamas.

"So you're sure your mom won't notice?" Mitsuko asked, pouring herself a glass of wine from the bottle they'd taken from the fridge.

She smiled slightly. "They won't notice a glass or two missing."

"Awesome." Mitsuko grinned, sitting down next to her on the bed with the glass in hand. "I just wanted to see what it was like."

Rio hummed, grimacing when she took a sip of the white wine. "It tastes kind of gross..."

Mitsuko shrugged, gulping it down. "It's not that bad." She wiped her mouth and grinned at her. "It's important to build a tolerance."

"Yeah, if you're an alcoholic." Rio threw her Panda pillow at her.

"Hey! Careful!" Mitsuko covered the glass to stop it from spilling.

Rio smiled and snuggled up against her, smiling. "We should do this more..." She looked up at her. "You know if you could spare like ten seconds of your day..."

Mitsuko laughed quietly, draining the rest of the wine too quickly. "Yeah, I know I've been busy..."

Rio rolled her eyes. "You're always busy." She propped herself up on her elbows. "How many clubs and competitions does your dad even have you doing?"

Mitsuko shrugged, placing the glass on the bedside table. "I like most of them, like basketball."

"The Radio Club is better," Rio huffed, giving her a look. "All those clubs and you can't even fit in that one?"

"Do you want me to not sleep?" she joked, smiling wryly. "I have a packed schedule as it is."

"Yeah, I know. You should get a secretary so I can pre-book our sleepovers," Rio remarked dryly.

Mitsuko laughed, looking down at her with bright eyes, laying down next to her. "Shut up, it's not that bad."

"Wanna bet?" Rio was grinning, staring at her until she realised they were close enough to—

Mitsuko sat up quickly, looking away from her. "We should fill the bottle up with lemonade so they won't notice the wine is missing."

Rio quickly recovered and nodded. "Okay, but why do I get the feeling that's just your excuse to drink more?"

Her friend smiled back teasingly, slipping off the bed. "Maybe yes, maybe no."

* * *

When she was fourteen...

Rio apprehensively approached Mitsuko when she saw her hunched over the table in the Library, with a pile of books and nearly a hundred notes all neatly piled together.

"Mitsuko?"

Mitsuko didn't lookup. "Rio, I'm busy," she said curtly, narrowing her eyes at her.

Rio frowned, standing next to her seat. "Um...Mitsu, everyone's gone home..."

Mitsuko blinked and sat up straighter, looking around. Some older students were starting to twitch off the lights.

"Oh..." Mitsuko grimaced and quickly tried to pack her stuff up.

"Are you okay?"

Because she did definitely not look alright, she looked washed out and worn down like she wasn't eating or sleeping enough.

Mitsuko stared at her with wide, tired, eyes. "...Of course, I am."

A lie as usual, but that wasn't exactly new and Rio had learned early on that pushing for answers never got anywhere.

Rio's frown deepened but tried to think of a solution. "How about we head to the arcades?" She smiled. "My treat."

Mitsuko rubbed the bags under her eyes. "Thanks, but I can't." She placed her bag over her shoulder. "You know I have Cram school."

"Then skip it," Rio replied, sighing. "It's not worth it if you're too tired."

Mitsuko's expression became closed off. "No. I can't skip." Her shoulders hunched up defensively. "When was the last time you went anyway?"

Rio tensed, and then narrowed her eyes. "What's that to you? I can study in my own time."

Mitsuko held her bag strap tighter. "I saw your latest rank. You need to start putting the effort in..."

What the hell?!

There was no need to be a bitch about it.

Rio's jaw clenched. "It's better than working myself to an early grave like you."

Mitsuko's gaze grew into a glare. "Well, we all can't be like Class C and just _wing_ it."

Rio's eyes flashed with anger. "Excuse me?"

Mitsuko's brow smoothed out quickly, looking regretful.

"I'm sorry, I...just..."

Rio's gaze softened as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mitsuko, you can tell me."

Mitsuko looked away quickly. "I-I need to go." She stepped back, averting her gaze. "I'm fine. Just let me study."

Rio watched her walk away from her without a second glance.

* * *

When she was fifteen...

It was a Saturday night, and Rio was sat in her room drumming her pencil against her desk while she listened to music and scrolled through her laptop and looking at Mitsuko's social media accounts.

There wasn't much activity as usual, but she was on the lookout for any new pictures posted.

Rio groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I'm worse than Okajima..."

Her chin rested on the desk as she stared at the illuminated screen and the last photo Mitsuko had uploaded which had been in the early summer when they'd bought ice cream.

Something in her stomach ached.

She turned up the music loud and onto a sad song before burying her face in her arms.

Mitsuko may have been a bitch more times than Rio could count, but she missed her ad the ache in her stomach kept getting worse and worse...

Rio closed her eyes tight and sighed.

Then a sharp click made her frown and lift her head—

"WHAT THE SHIT?!"

Rio screamed and jerked back in such alarm she fell out of her chair and landed on the floor when she saw Mitsuko was hallway through the window carrying a giant bouquet of flowers and chocolate.

"Uh..." Mitsuko blushed bright pink, still frozen in that half-out and in position at the window. "Hi..."


	29. I'm Sorry

_There was one memory that Mitsuko had used to—and maybe still did—consider one of happiest days of her childhood..._

Mitsuko had felt excited when their father actually invited her and Gakushuu to the big party he was going to. It was the first adult party she'd been allowed to attend since apparently eight years old was still too young to stay up past 9 pm.

_Rio will be so jealous when I tell her!_

She couldn't stop smiling and smoothing down the skirt of her pretty blue dress with puffed sleeves. Their dad had even paid to get her hair styled at a salon so it was all shiny and soft.

It was the first time they'd been this dressed up since mom...Her smile faded a little, but she quickly tried to shake it off.

It was fine, their dad had said their mom would be allowed back home from the hospital soon once she was better.

She got distracted when her stomach rumbled, smelling the plate of desserts the waiter was carrying around. She frowned, wanting more food. She hadn't eaten much of the dinner they'd been served since it tasted too rich and salty.

Mitsuko hesitantly stepped closer to their father when he was no longer talking to people. "Dad?" she asked quickly, even though her brother tried to pull her back. "Can we have some cake now?"

Their father raised an eyebrow when he looked down at them.

"Mitsuko," Gakushuu whispered warningly.

She scowled at her brother. "I'm hungry."

"Later," their dad told her dismissively, looking over at a group of adults near the far corner. "Come along." He started walking towards the group of men dressed in shiny expensive suits.

_But, I want cake now!_

Mitsuko's scowl deepened, following him and her brother regardless.

"Who do you think all these people are?" She whispered to Gakushuu, holding his hand as they trailed a few feet behind their dad as he went to greet more people—there weren't any other children around, it was all just adults in expensive clothing.

Gakushuu shrugged, not looking as excited. "Rich," he replied dryly, shrugging. "Some of them are the board of directors for schools..."

Mitsuko nodded, looking around. It did make sense since their father was more focussed on his new school than ever, and now there was a high school being built as well.

"Children." Their father's voice made them both look up.

Mitsuko smiled despite some nervousness when she looked over at the other man who was with their dad.

"This is Haratu Kakita from Tokyo's Board of education." He introduced the man to them

Mr Kakita smiled down at them politely and bowed his head; he was skinny and older than their dad, with grey streaks in his black hair. "Hello, your father has told me so much about you both."

_Both?_

Mitsuko's smile grew.

She and Gakushuu both smiled up at him pleasantly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Kakita," they both said as they bowed in unison.

"Your father tells me you've learnt quite a lot from his teaching methods," Mr Kakita looked amused and was speaking at them like they were five. "And I wanted to ask you a few questions if that's alright?"

"Yes," she and her brother replied at the same time, nodding.

Their dad had said that they would be expected to answer some question during the night, so they'd both made sure to do the prep work he'd given them both.

She held her brother's hand tighter, feeling more nervous than she should.

"Well, let's see..." The man thought for a second or two. "Would you be able to tell me the nearest decimal place for 156 divided by 7?"

"22.3," Gakushuu replied instantly.

Mr Kakita blinked but then smiled. "Oh, well, very good."

"I did say," their dad commented lightly, smiling pleasantly. "Children, what is 532 multiplied by 4?"

She multiplied under her breath, moving her mouth. "2,128!" she said before Gakushuu got the chance.

"And divide that by 7 equals?" their dad asked.

"304," her brother answered quickly.

Their dad looked back at Mr Kakita. "Go ahead."

Mr Kakita frowned slightly, looking impressed, rubbing his chin as he looked down at them. "Well, uh...let's see..." He hummed. "Do you know what Xylem is?"

"The hollow woody tissue in plants that carries water and minerals from the roots to throughout the entire plant," Gakushuu replied, sounding bored.

Mr Kakita started too look more and more impressed. "What is the scientific name of a Sydney Blue Gum?"

_Oh, that was easy._

Mitsuko smiled brightly. "Eucalyptus saligna!"

The man's eyes widened. "What is the hardest substance in the human body?"

"Tooth enamel!" Mitsuko said quickly, earning an annoyed look from Gakushuu.

A few more people had started to come closer to listen.

Mr Kakita scratched his head. "What is...what is a Pyrogen?"

Gakushuu squeezed her hand hard. "A substance that causes fever."

"Ooh!" A few people who had gathered around were smiling in interest.

Mitsuko blushed when she saw they were getting all the attention.

Then more people started asking them random questions on history, maths, science, and geography.

Her smile wavered the longer they kept asking more questions, starting to feel tired when the time ticked towards 10:30 pm.

"I have one!" A young man with too much wine in his hand said. "How far is the earth from the sun?"

Mitsuko bunched up the ends of her dress, trying to think quickly, but she started to feel sick when she realised she didn't know the answer.

"93 Million miles," Gakushuu answered instead.

"Oh, come on that was easy!" The woman with a very pointed face next to him said. "What about...can they recite all the bones in the human body?" she asked their dad. "Or recite each country?"

Mitsuko frowned at the onslaught of questions, and how the adults were gawking at them like they were animals at a zoo; she started to feel uncomfortable, leaning closer to her brother who gently squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"They're not circus performers, Hoga," one woman with light short hair muttered near the back, looking slightly concerned.

"Yes, but can they do it?" the woman, Hoga, replied impatiently. "I was only asking, Anaya."

"Yes, they can, in three different languages so far," their father answered politely, some smugness on the edge of his smile. "Assuming you don't think I'm exaggerating again, Kakita?"

Mr Kakita gave a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "My apologies. I can see you definitely were not exaggerating." He stared down at them in wonder. "It's amazing."

Mitsuko preened at the praise, and even Gakushuu looked happy.

_People thought they were amazing!_

"How much time studying does the method require?" A smartly dressed woman had joined the conversation, looking over at them curiously.

"Time isn't the key factor, focus and self-drive are," their father replied lightly. "The children have to want to be the best, and when given the right incentive, there are no limits to what they can accomplish."

More and more of the adults started to look impressed and curious.

Then a man with blond hair peered at Mitsuko. "How old are they again?"

Gakushuu looked slightly annoyed. "We're eight."

"Only just." Their father pitched in. "They've only been learning through my method for over a year now."

One man with a beard laughed. "My nephew's eight and he can barely tell the time!"

"I must admit, Asano, they are quite something." Hoga smirked, raising an eyebrow at the twins. "Are all the rest of your students like this?"

Their dad chuckled. "My children are my first students, and the standard we expect from all attending Kunigiagoka."

_First students..._

Mitsuko's brow knitted faintly when she remembered the three cram students who used to sneak her sweets when she visited the Old Campus up on the mountain; the memories were faint, but still there.

"You two must love school," one man said, smiling in amusement.

Mitsuko wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question. "Yes..."

"Can you play any instruments?" the woman with short hair called Anaya asked them sweetly

She nodded, growing shyer when the questions became more about them than actual facts or multiplications. "Yes, we can."

"They're both at the advanced level of violin and piano," their dad boasted, drawing some more impressed looks.

"Which is your favourite, violin or piano?" Anaya asked her kindly.

_Neither._

She didn't like the scratchiness of the violin or how it bruised her finger, and the piano was boring.

Mitsuko shifted on the spot, not sure what the right answer was. "I like both..." she lied, looking at her dad cautiously.

"Oh." Anaya frowned for some reason, but then she smiled brightly at them. "Well, no wonder you're so good."

"Adorable as well!" The blond man ruffled both her and Gakushuu's hair with his grubby wine-stained hands.

Mitsuko scowled, glaring at him when he disturbed the work the ladies at the salon had spent hours crafting. "Stop it..."

The man just laughed, still touching their heads like it was a joke. "Bit grumpy isn't—?"

"Please don't touch the children." Dad's voice was cold, making the man tense up and quickly remove his hands.

"S-sorry." The man looked scared, taking a step back.

Mitsuko felt a spark of relief, and let go of her brother's hand and hid behind her dad's leg, even though she knew he wouldn't like it; he had been telling them for months they couldn't hide behind other people for protection.

But, she was tired and wanted to go home, hoping he'd allow her to hide behind him just this once.

Gakushuu glared at the blond man and then hid behind their dad's other leg when he didn't try to push her away like usual.

Their dad didn't seem too annoyed about it and just smiled at the other adults. "If you have any further questions I'd be happy to answer."

Mitsuko sighed softly in relief, clinging to his leg. She closed her eyes and yawned, relaxing when he started petting both their heads soothingly while he talked to more people. Gently smoothing down her and Gakushuu's hair so it was neat again.

Some of the people that had gathered while the rest moved away and got distracted talking to each other, but some still lingered to stare at them and even made awing noises when Mitsuko hid her face further in her dad's leg so she wouldn't have to look at them.

She nearly fell asleep while standing until her dad tapped her on the head to jolt her away.

"I'll be sending the children home now with my driver." Their father shook Mr Katika's hand while Mitsuko rubbed some sleep from her eyes. "Perhaps we can discuss this further?"

The other man nodded, still staring at Mitsuko and her brother in wonder. "Yes, absolutely." Mr Katika turned to another group of men who were lingering close. "I'll tell the staff to prepare a table outside."

"Excellent," their dad replied, smiling brighter. "I look forward to it."

Mitsuko looked up when their dad placed a hand on their shoulders once the rest of the crowd had started to move away.

"Well done," Dad said quietly, sounding pleased. "You were both perfect,"

Her whole face lit up as her stomach did a flip.

"We were...?" Gakushuu looked up in disbelief, something cracking in his voice. His eyes wide in wonder as a slow smile started to spread across his face; she hadn't seen him so happy in months.

Mitsuko smiled up at him, eyes bright with happiness. Tiredness replaced with excitement. "We were perfect?!"

Their dad observed their smiling faces curiously. "Yes."

Her whole chest felt like it would burst from joy, feeling like this was the time before when their dad would hug them tight and tell them how proud he was of something they'd done—like the day she'd written her name perfectly or when she'd gotten a gold star certificate in her first year of school.

Her chest ached a little when she realised just how much she wanted him to hug them both like when things had been happier...

Their dad hummed, already quickly distracted by something else since they could never seem to hold his attention for long.

He clicked his fingers at a waiter. "Oshin will drive you home." A waiter hurried over with a large plate of sweets and cakes. "You may go wait by the entrance and eat your dessert."

"Really?" Mitsuko almost jumped up in excitement when he handed her and Gakushuu the large tray of sweets. "We can have them all?"

The tray was full of more cake and sweets than they could eat.

"Yes, you can," their dad replied calmly, smiling politely. "Remember, success is rewarded."

She felt like she'd squeal with joy, but she held it back, sharing a happy smile with Gakushuu before she stuffed a small bite of raspberry cheesecake in her mouth, as their father walked away.

Mitsuko savoured the taste of the sweetness, loving it, even though she'd admit a hug would have been a nicer reward.

* * *

Mitsuko practically stumbled out of the window and into Rio's room, nearly dropping the chocolates and flowers in the process.

_Okay, so maybe this hadn't been the best idea..._

Rio was gawking at her, sat on the floor while she just...stared at her. "What the actual fuck are you doing?"

"I...I wanted to apologise." She held out the red roses and chocolates. "So I got you these."

Rio looked more confused, standing up. "I'm sorry, can we back-track for a second?" She ran a hand through her hair. "The apology thing, I can understand. The creeping into my room with flowers and chocolates? Yeah, that I'm completely confused about."

Mitsuko blushed, looking away. "Ren said it would be romantic..."

Rio smacked her face in her hand. "Ren Sakikabara is a fucking moron!" She stared at her in disbelief. "Why would you take advice from him?!"

"He has experience with girls," Mitsuko argued, growing redder.

"Because he's a slut!"

Mitsuko frowned. "So...you don't want the flowers and chocolates."

"I never said that." Rio snatched the chocolates from her, looking annoyed. "And for the record, me taking this doesn't accept your apology." She grew more frazzled and quickly shut her laptop for some reason."In fact, why am I still even talking to you?—this whole thing is crazy! You can't just randomly show up after...after...you know what, I don't even want to talk about this. Just go."

Mitsuko bit down hard on her tongue and stayed rooted on the spot. "I came here to apologise and talk about what happened." She held the roses close. "And since your parents are out for dinner, I thought it would be a good time."

"How did you know my parents were out?!" Rio questioned.

She went bright red. "Uh..." A nervous laugh came out. "Okay, so I might have stalked your parents a little to find out information, and I might have also asked for Koro-sensei's help in finding out their dinner reservations—but it was only because I really needed to see you!"

"...Jesus Christ, Mitsuko."

Mitsuko grew flustered. "Look. I really needed to see you." She looked away."You always complained about me not being open so...so if you're willing to listen, I'll try to be open."

Rio stared at her in silence for a while, unsure. "Okay..." She looked at the chocolates and then the flowers. "This is all weird, though."

Mitsuko gave a faint smile. "I thought weird was our thing?"

Rio hummed, closing the window. "Okay, fine. I'm listening."

She took a deep breath, sitting down on the bed opposite. "Okay, so, I've been doing a lot of thinking." She placed the flowers and her small blue handbag on the bed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I acted crazy at the summer festival and tried to kiss you without asking and upset you."

Rio nodded slowly, sitting down at the desk to eat some of the chocolates. "The drinking was also a bad move."

Mitsuko cringed, nodding. "Yes, it was." Shit, this was hard. "I only drank because I was nervous and scared." She forced her eyes up to meet Rio's. "I did a lot of things because I was scared..." She swallowed a lump in her throat. "I was angry a lot as well and I took that out on you a lot."

Rio nodded again, frowning. "Yeah..."

Mitsuko bunched her hands up in her skirt, looking down. "I...I was angry at my dad a lot of the time, but I couldn't take it out on him so I did it to you instead, even though I felt bad afterwards," her voice grew quiet. "I wanted to tell you what was going on but I was scared, and Gakushuu kept saying we shouldn't, but I wanted to. I wanted you to help."

She placed the chocolates to the side of the desk and stood up, surprising her when she sat on the bed next to her. "Then tell me now."

Mitsuko hesitated, even though it was ridiculous since she'd already told Koro-sensei and the others. "My dad made me feel useless." She stared at her hands, picking the skin with her nails. "Sometimes he wouldn't even have to say anything, he'd just look at me and it would make me and it'd make me feel like I was the ugliest thing there was."

Rio didn't say anything, and Mitsuko couldn't mount up enough courage to look at her so she just kept talking.

"Sometimes I wish he'd just hit me," Mitsuko murmured, pinching her skin. "At least then it would be over with and I could see it. Like when he locked me outside the rain that time we skipped school, I just wanted—"

"He locked you outside in the rain?" Rio interrupted, looking concerned.

"Oh, yeah..." Mitsuko frowned, realising what she'd said. "He did a lot of stuff like that sometimes if I messed up...he hid Osamu and Dai from me when we skipped cram school before the start of Kunigiagoka."

"He did what?!" Rio was angry now. "For how long?!"

"Not too long..." Mitsuko replied feebly. "I was scared to tell you in case you told your parents or...I don't know...maybe that you wouldn't believe me."

"Of course I'd believe you!" Rio stared at her in disbelief. "Your dad's a fucking psycho!"

A small smile crept onto her face briefly. "I didn't want to worry you..." She shrugged uncomfortably, tugging at the ends of her hair. "Gakushuu kept saying it was our problem."

Rio scoffed. "Gakushuu is an idiot."

Mitsuko nearly laughed, smiling faintly. "He can be sometimes." She smoothed some hair behind her ear. "The Principal puts a lot of pressure on him, and every time I failed he gets blamed as well." She sighed quietly. "And the pressure kept getting worse every year, and I didn't mean to take it out on you, but I did, and I'm sorry."

Rio's gaze softened, holding her hand. "I'm sorry I didn't help you." She grimaced. "I...I knew something was wrong but I didn't know what to do or how to get you to tell me."

"It's okay." Mitsuko felt something warm swell in her chest. "I should have told you." She shifted uneasily when she remembered the next thing she had planned to tell her. "Just like I should have told you that...um..." _Why was it still hard to talk about?_ "You know that I started vomiting before tests recently right?"

Rio nodded slowly. "Yeah."

She swallowed. "Well, that started, um, when my dad drugged my tea and made me vomit on the floor for a while."

Rio looked horrified. "H-he drugged you?!"

"It wasn't poison or anything." She defended even though she still wasn't sure why. "That was probably the worst thing he's done."

"Probably?!"

"Okay, maybe the worst. I don't know!" Mitsuko grimaced, staring down. "I guess I can't tell because I'm used to him being like this and justifying everything he does..."

 _What was even classed as real normal parent behaviour?_ The only examples she could compare were from books or movies and even then that had to be taken as a grain of salt.

"Okay, sorry," Rio apologised for some reason. "It's just a lot to process..."

Mitsuko hummed. "He kept telling me you'd disappoint me and leave as well."

"What?!" Rio was angry again.

"He did it a lot. Acting like he thought you were just pretending to be my friend and that one day you'd get bored and leave," Mitsuko muttered, pulling her hand out of hers. "And he would say things about you not being good enough and that you were just a distraction who was weighing me down."

"Your dad's a prick," Rio said coldly. "And a liar."

Mitsuko grimaced. "...But you did leave," her voice was tiny. "I messed things up and drove you away." She hunched her shoulders up defensively. "I went to A-Class because I didn't want to feel vulnerable again, and my dad kept blaming you, saying everything was your fault because we got too close." Her eyes stung when tears started to creep up. "I shouldn't have believed him, but he was being so nice...and just wanted him to see me. All I've ever wanted was for him to be proud of me. I wanted him to tell me he loved me and just be my dad."

"Oh, Mitsuko..." Rio's voice was strained.

She blinked back tears and took a deep breath to calm down. "I got obsessed because I wanted you to love me s-so I wouldn't feel...I just wanted someone to love me properly."

Rio stayed silent, breaking her heart a bit more.

"But it's fine that you don't like me like that," Mitsuko murmured. "It's okay. I understand—"

"It's not like that," Rio interrupted quietly. "In fact, if I didn't like you, things would be a lot easier..."

She looked up with a frown. "I don't understand."

Rio let out a shaky sigh. "...It's confusing. I mean, I've known you since we were seven, and I remember thinking; this is my best friend. That's all it is." She grimaced, looking over at her closed laptop. "I didn't even know girls could even like other girls, let alone that people would get upset about it..."

"I found it confusing too," Mitsuko reassured her.

"I...I wanted to kiss you for a long time," Rio said quietly, blushing faintly. "I'd think about it a lot...but then I'd think about what everyone else would think." She sighed. "My gran especially since she's made it very clear girls aren't meant, kiss girls."

Mitsuko's stomach twisted, starting to understand more. "I'm still scared to tell my mom...Gakushuu and my dad don't care but...well, you know what my mom's like."

Rio nodded, looking embarrassed. "I shouldn't be so scared about, I shouldn't care so much." Her brow furrowed. "And normally I don't care about what people think, but this, this is different."

"...I guess we both suck at talking about stuff." Mitsuko smiled a little.

She gave a strained laugh. "Yeah. Kind of hopeless aren't we?"

Mitsuko smile grew. "I'm trying to be better at it." She sighed. "I don't want to be so angry all the time. It's still hard, but I'm _trying_." She looked at her earnestly. "You deserve to be treated with respect, and I didn't give you that, not properly. I just tried to make you feel like my dad made me feel, and that isn't okay..."

"I understand why now, though," Rio replied. "All I've wanted was for you to just be honest with me." Then she frowned. "And if we are going to be friends again then I'm not putting up with you taking your anger out on me, if something is wrong then we need to talk about it."

Mitsuko perked up. "Y-you still want to be friends?"

" _But_ , only if things change." Rio made that clear, crossing her arms. "And I'm not making any promises about a relationship. I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out, so I need time."

She nodded quickly, feeling her heart race. "I promise I won't push!" A happy smile was threatening to slide onto her face. "C-can I hug you?"

Rio sighed. "Yes."

Mitsuko lurched forward and embraced her. "Thank you! Thank you!"

"Ugh, okay! Calm down." Rio was struggling to breathe.

"Sorry!" Mitsuko quickly pulled away, feeling giddy. "I'm just so happy." She wrung her hands nervously. "And I've decided I'm coming back to E Class."

Rio's eyes widened. "How?"

Her smile widened. "I have a plan, but I need help." She reached into her handbag and pulled out a piece of folded paper. "I realised the only way to get back was to fly under the Principal's radar and attack the thing he loves most."

Rio frowned, opening the paper. "And what's that, mentally scarring kids?"

"No, the next big thing," Mitsuko said. "He's always had big meetings with investors and the school board for getting more funding and special treatment for the school," she explained. "I mean, I spent most of my childhood being paraded around like an animal just so he could boast about how great his education system was."

"Classic exploitation, but continue."

"He's always wanted to build more schools, and that's exactly what he's doing now," Mitsuko explained. "I found that blueprint when I broke into his office. He's using the bribery money the government is giving him."

Rio examined the paper which was blueprints for parts of a new school building. "It looks more like a prison."

"Yes, he's upgrading." Mitsuko nodded. "But the key thing is that he's hiding that money from my mom since she deals with all the bills and when I looked at their shared account statements, the money isn't there."

Rio frowned. "So, you're going to find where he's hidden the money?"

Mitsuko nodded, proud of herself. "Yes, and if I find it I can blackmail him and then he'll have to send me to E Class."

Rio nodded, following closely. "Okay, so how are you going to do that?"

"Well..." Her excitement faded. "That's where the main problem comes in, I need Ritsu's help but she isn't speaking to me..."

"Why?" Rio asked, frowning.

Mitsuko grimaced. "I upset her..."

Rio looked annoyed. "What did you say?"

"It was a combination of a lot of things," she replied, sighing. "I wasn't very respectful to her and I also took her for granted."

"And, have you apologised?"

"I tried!" Mitsuko said defensively, taking out a cheap-looking phone. "I even bought a burner phone so my dad couldn't spy on us, but she's been ignoring me." She looked down miserably. "And it's not like I can just confront her. She literally lives inside a machine and can turn off whenever..."

Rio sighed deeply, shaking her head. "I'll ask her to talk to you."

"You will?" Mitsuko's face brightened. "Thank you," she said. "Also, I've already told Sugaya, but can you tell the others they'll need to keep their distance for a few weeks." She smiled grimly. "My dad's been threatening to send me away if he sees me with any of you guys..."

Rio's gaze narrowed. "He'll have to fight the rest of us if he tries," she told her firmly. "Where does he think you are now?"

"I told my mom I'd be staying late at the library," she replied, frowning when she looked at the time. "So I'll need to start heading back."

"Okay." Rio nodded, picking up the flowers. "Well, thanks for the gifts...even if the introduction was creepy."

"Sorry." Mitsuko blushed bright red.

Rio smiled a little. "Just promise me you won't take romantic advice from Sakikabara again. He's completely clueless."

"He was right about the chocolates and flowers though," Mitsuko ventured.

She rolled her eyes. "It's chocolate, Mitsuko. I'm not going to say no to free chocolate."

"And, the flowers?" Mitsuko teased.

Rio looked like she was trying hard not to blush. "They're okay, I guess."

Mitsuko smiled happily. "Then I guess he isn't that bad, huh?"

"Go home before I throw you out of the window," Rio said flatly, making her laugh.

"Okay, okay, I will." She grabbed her bag and stood up. "Thank you for listening..." Then she looked a little unsure. "Um, if at any point I'm pushing for too much, you can tell me and I'll calm down. I don't want to upset you or make you feel uncomfortable..."

Rio stood up, smiling. "Thanks, I appreciate that." She glanced at Mitsuko's phone and took it from her. "Call me if you need help." She entered the number in her contacts before handing it back. "We can talk more."

Mitsuko nodded, stuffing her phone back in her bag. "I promise I'll call."

"Right..." Rio shifted on the spot, the awkwardness was still there but it was bearable. "Get home safe."

nodded, putting a leg out of the window, "Well, I'll try to see you tomorrow." She struggled a bit to open the window when it stayed stuck. "I'll try to—why is this jammed?!"

Rio raised an eyebrow. "You know, we have a front door right?"

Mitsuko was bright red, hastily stepping back into the room. "I knew that!"

"Right," Rio replied dryly, grabbing her keys off the desk. "Of course."


	30. You're my Accomplice

Mitsuko took a deep breath, staring at her laptop for a long while.

“Um, Ritsu?”

Her screen remained on her desktop page.

“Uh…” She let out a deep breath. “Look, if you can hear me, hopefully, I just wanted to talk…”

Nothing happened.

She grimaced and quickly double-checked she was connected to the internet.

_Was she even there?_

Mitsuko groaned, burying her face in her arms. “Okay, still pulling the silent treatment…” She looked up and stared at the screen. “Fair enough, I was a bitch.” She sat up straighter and watched the screen. “You don’t have to say anything…”

She tried to choose her words carefully.

“I wanted to say sorry for being a jerk,” she began to apologise, hoping the AI was actually listening. “I didn’t treat you with respect, or like a real friend.” She shifted in her seat. “I was a really, really, shitty friend, and I’m sorry…” She fidgeted. “I have a bad history of treating my friends like crap, I’m trying to work on that.” Her stomach churned unpleasantly. “Anyway, I completely understand that you don’t want to ever speak to me again so…yeah, I just wanted to apologise.”

The screen stayed blank, making her chest ache.

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. “Yeah…good talk.” Her voice strained, starting to close the laptop.

“Nakamura said you needed my help.”

She froze, feeling her heart leap when she saw a stern-faced Ritsu appear on her screen.

“Ritsu!” Mitsuko exclaimed in relief, pushing the laptop fully open again. “Please tell me I wasn’t talking to myself and you actually heard my apology?”

Ritsu pursed her lips into a scowl, crossing her arms. “I’m spyware on your laptop…I’m listening even if I don’t want to.”

Mitsuko’s smile grew. “Really?” Then she frowned. “Wait, spyware?”

Ritsu sighed, looking exasperated. “Look, if we’re going to be friends then you need to be nicer to me.” She frowned. “I’ve been posting in a lot of friendship forums and they all agree you’ve been really mean to me!”

She cringed. “Sorry…”

The AI sighed, composing herself. “Luckily for you…I have a high level of forgiveness in my emotional processor.” She gave her a stern look. “But that does not mean I will tolerate you always shoving me to the side and locking me out emotionally!”

Mitsuko nodded along. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

Ritsu frowned. “I know some things are hard for you to talk about, but please don’t shut me out…” She touched the screen and looked at her sadly. “It hurts seeing you so sad, and even if you don’t think so, I…I think you’re my best friend.”

Mitsuko would have given anything in the world to hug her. “You’re my friend too...” She held her burner phone close in her hand. “Honestly, I’m not that good at making new friends, and God knows how I’ve kept this many so far but…” She smiled faintly. “You’re honestly a saint for sticking with me this far.”

Ritsu was visibly trying very hard not to smile. “Well…I still need an accomplice for World domination.” She shrugged. “And since you keep wanting to be important, I figured you’re the perfect fit.”

Mitsuko snorted in amusement, starting to smile. “You really have that much faith in me?”

The AI smiled properly this time. “I’ve calculated you’re the most logical choice—I have a five-step plan and everything.”

She relaxed, leaning against the desk. “Well, I am planning to go into an advertisement—that’s the real corporate evil right there.” Her smile grew into a smirk. “I bet I could increase robotic sales by 50%.”

“Software is where the real control lies,” Ritsu replied, smiling brighter. “We get control of that market and we’ll have the world eating out of our hand within ten years.”

Mitsuko laughed. “Yeah, we’ll work on it.”

“Yes.” Ritsu nodded firmly. “But first, let’s deal with your dad,” she said. “Nakamura explained the basics to me.”

She nodded, sitting up straighter. “I need to find out where my dad is hiding that money, and preferably fast—think you can pull it off?”

Ritsu’s smile grew wicked. “Well…I may, or may not, have installed spyware on the Principal’s computer when Nagisa hooked me up last week.”

Mitsuko’s eyes lit up. “Oh, wow, you’re really embracing that teenage rebellion there.”

Ritsu winked. “How could I pass up such an opportunity?” She twirled and transformed into a hacker’s disguise with large glasses and a beanie hat to top it off. “It might take a day or two to run a few traces and crack a few passwords, but I’ll find that money.”

“You’re terrifying.” Mitsuko grinned. “I love it.”

Ritsu giggled and transformed back into a summer dress. “I know! World domination is going to be easy!”

She chuckled, feeling warm. "Yeah, yeah it will." She touched the screen. "Partners in crime?"

She smiled warmly and touched her side of the screen so their hands were matched. "Yes." Her smile grew. "Your dad has no idea who he's dealing with!"

* * *

Mitsuko sighed, forcing herself to pay attention in class while the lesson droned on at 70 miles per hour.

“Asano-san!” The teacher snapped.

She grimaced, struggling not to glare at him. “Yes, sir?”

Mr Hisaya seemed hellbent on holding a grudge it seemed since he wouldn’t stop glaring at her like she’d killed his puppy or something.

“Find the answer!” He tapped his ruler against the board.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow and glanced at the board quickly.

_Okay…Oh, come on! These guys are still studying basic macroeconomics policies?_

She wanted to bash her head against the table.

_Be good._

Mitsuko took a deep breath to compose herself. “It’s the Fiscal Policy, it’s the sister strategy to the monetary policy.”

Class A’s teacher looked like he wanted to murder her. “Very good.”

Then he started writing even faster on the board.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and continued writing.

“Hey,” Juba whispered next to her.

She frowned and look over. “What is it?”

Juba looked nervous, adjusting his glasses. “C-could you help explain—“

“WHO IS TALKING AT THE BACK!?!” Hisaya-sensei made them all jump when he whipped around. 

Juba flinched and practically hid under his desk.

Mitsuko glared at the teacher at the front.

The bearded man locked eyes on her and matched her glare with his own. “Asano-san…”

“Sir.” Gakushuu cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow at the man. “Perhaps you could resume? We are running out of time before lunch after all.”

A few students sniggered, making her smirk.

Hisaya bristled, looking back at his student’s expectant gazes. “Hm.” He turned back to the board. “Everyone stay focused, we don’t have time for distractions!”

“We barely have time to breathe,” Mitsuko murmured, continuing to write.

The lesson continued without interruption up until Lunch when Mr Hisaya decided to end the lesson five minutes early so he could angrily toss his ruler on the desk and gather his bag.

“Class dismissed,” he snapped almost petulantly before he marched out of the room before they even had a chance to stop writing.

The class stared at the door curiously when it slammed shut.

“Oh, wow…” Hashizume laughed from the back of the room. “You really pissed him off, Mitsuko!”

Mitsuko scowled. “I didn’t even say anything…”

“He’s been really angry since you insulted him last week,” Kondo said, grimacing. “I haven’t seen him so angry since his wife left him for that Personal Trainer…”

“I thought she cheated on him with their gardener?” Satsuki asked while taking out a lunchbox form her bag.

“It was the decorator.” Gakushuu corrected dismissively, closing his book to glare at his sister. “But regardless, try not to irritate him any more, Mitsuko.”

“Yeah, he’s already a jerk,” Tsuda remarked. “No need to make it worse for the rest of us just because you’re stubborn.”

Mitsuko scowled. “Well, excuse me for having a backbone!” She crossed her arms. “Seriously, he was the one trying to embarrass me, and besides all I did was point out there was a better theory.”

“Yeah, a wrong one.” Seo scoffed.

She glared at him. “It wasn’t wrong, Seo.” She looked at her classmates. “Come on guys, I got the right answer and everything, don’t act like I didn’t have a good point.”

Most of them started to look unsure.

Kondo frowned. “It was easier to understand…”

“Yeah, it was.” Juba adjusted his glasses. “It helped me a lot for studying.”

Mitsuko smiled at that. “Glad I could help.”

“Speaking of studying.” Gakushuu stood up, gaining their attention. “Midterms are only two months away.” The class started to tense up. “And after the catastrophic failure which was finals.” He glared at his friends who quickly looked away. “We cannot afford a repeat. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Asano!” The Class replied in unison.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and sighed. “So what’s the strategy this time?”

“We’ll be holding more after school study sessions and individual group sessions for the next couple of months,” her brother explained curtly. “Any questions?”

“Oh, I have a question!” Miura’s hand shot up.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Can we pick our own groups, please?!” she asked excitedly.

Gakushuu sighed deeply. “ _Yes_ , I suppose so.”

This seemed to brighten up the others as they started to turn to their friends and chat excitedly.

Mitsuko smiled in amusement, enjoying the look of annoyance on her brother’s face.

“Um, Mitsuko?”

She glanced over and nearly did a double-take when she saw there were four other boys surrounding Juba’s desk. “Uh, yes?”

“Can we be in your group?” Juba asked timidly.

“Yeah!” Kondo nodded, frowning. “I wanna know how you figured out that theory on DNA.”

“Or how you can remember all the stuff on economics,” Tanaka added, looking embarrassed.

Mori nodded enthusiastically. “Can you explain it?”

“Yeah, we’d appreciate it a lot,” Aoi said, smiling. “And if you want bribery, my house has all kinds of food.”

“My house has a pool,” Mori said.

“Uh…” Mitsuko stared at them in disbelief. “Yeah, sure…I…”

Then she got an idea and nearly grinned in excitement when she stared at these five perfect walking alibi’s which would be putty in her hands.

“I’d love too!” she replied brightly, smiling sweetly the way Bitch-sensei had shown her. “It could be a lot of fun.”

“Mitsuko,” Gakushuu was walking over. “We can—“

“Sorry! I already have a group!” she interrupted, smiling brightly.

Her brother stopped and frowned at her. “What are—?”

“You’re already the Big Five, no need to make it a six.” She waved him off dismissively. “And you said we could choose groups.”

Gakushuu’s frown deepened when he looked over at the four boys, making them shy away. “ _Really_?”

“Yep!” Mitsuko slipped off her seat and onto her desk, crossing her legs. “So you can run along now and leave us to it, okay?”

He looked annoyed, but what else was new?

“Well, it seems you have everything arranged then,” he replied evenly, casting a dark look at her new group-friends. “I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Uh, should we be worried?” Juba asked warily as they watched Gakushuu walk back over to the other Big Five.

Kondo gulped. “I feel we should be…”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, he’s just being his usual stubborn self.” She smiled at them. “So, whose house are we crashing at first?”


	31. I'm not apologising

The next two days passed in a blur of studying, and a giant ache in her chest.

Mitsuko let out a deep breath of relief when they could finally leave class and take a break.

She’d give anything to listen to another stupid story about Koro-sensei travelling the world to go to some weird event.

She adjusted her bag, walking down the hallway.

_What were they all even doing right now?_

Mitsuko took out her burner phone and texted Sugaya quickly.

****:Anything cool happening?:** **

The reply came a few seconds later.

****:Kayano’s making a giant pudding:** **

She stopped and furiously texted back.

****:SAVE ME SOME!!:** **

Sugaya texted back a laughing emoji.

****:Just come get some before it gets blown up:** **

_Blown up?_

She scowled.

****:YOU KNOW I CAN’T!:** **

Mitsuko warily glanced up at the cameras before looking down and sighing.

****:I’ll try to save you some:** **

He added a smiley face at the end.

The corner of her lips twitched upwards, slipping her phone back in her pocket. She made her way to the cafeteria to meet Gakushuu for lunch—

“Mitsuko!” Ritsu hissed from her pocket a second later.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow and took out the phone again. “What is it?”

Ritsu’s face appeared on the screen, eyes shifting back and forth nervously. “Uh…we might have a situation?”

“What?!” Mitsuko looked around quickly before hiding inside the cleaning closet. “What happened?”

Ritsu grimaced. “Okay, so I was just hacking and trying to gain access to the accounts,” she began, making Mitsuko’s dread grow. “And the good news is that I may have found the right passcodes for the assets your dad has set up to hide the bribery money…but I also may have accidentally set off a security warning on his laptop…”

“Are you fucking serious right now?!” Mitsuko broke out into a sweat. “Did he catch you?!”

“No!” Ritsu said quickly. “It just sent out a spyware alert, like you get when you get an email for suspicious activity and stuff,” she reassured quickly. “But it means we need to act quickly before he completely changes everything in the account!”

Mitsuko quickly composed herself and nodded. “Right. Okay, so what do we need to do?”

Ritsu smiled nervously. “Well, um…how do you feel about breaking into your dad’s office and hacking his laptop?”

Mitsuko stared at her for a long time.

“Are you trying to get me killed?”

“I promise it’ll be quick!” Ritsu reassured. “If you hook me up to the cameras I can disable them for a little while so he won’t even see!”

Mitsuko grimaced. “We are going to get caught.”

“Well we could…we could have an alibi!” Ritsu suggested quickly.

That made her consider it. She looked at her bag thoughtfully. “I do have some paperwork he wanted me to hand in…”

“Exactly, see!” Ritsu clapped her hands. “We can pull it off. Partners in crime, remember?”

“You’re not the one who’ll get shipped off somewhere cold and with no wifi,” Mitsuko grumbled, sighing. “Okay, fine. We’ll do it, but I need to get him out of that office.”

Ritsu thought for a moment, rubbing her chin. “Hm…” Then her face perked up and an animated lightbulb floated over her head. “Let’s cause a power outage!”

* * *

Mitsuko gulped as she waited behind the hallway to the Principal’s office.

The electricity had been off for a least five minutes now.

“I hope this works,” she murmured, holding her phone tight for reassurance.

Ritsu smiled up at her. “It will be, don’t worry.”

And, sure enough, she could hear a pair of footsteps echoing down the hall.

“I’ve already rung the maintenance team, sir!” The Principal’s assistant stammered, hurrying to keep up with her dad’s footsteps. “The back-up generator will be up and running before classes even resume—“

“Why are you wasting time explaining this to me when you should be spending time finding out the route cause,” the Principal told him coldly.

She swore she heard the assistant cry a little. “Rest assured, I-I’m right on it, sir!”

“Come on,” Ritsu whispered when the footsteps grew fainter.

Mitsuko nodded and rushed to the Principal’s office, trying to be light on her feet.

She cautiously opened the door and stepped inside when she arrived, looking around to find the laptop.

Mitsuko placed her phone and bag on the desk. “It has to be around here somewhere.” She bent down and started to raid the drawers. “Come on.”

She yanked open the other drawer and shuffled through, freezing when she saw a framed photo of her and Gakushuu when they were younger, and some scrunched up crayon drawings slipped beside it.

Mitsuko frowned, picking it up to look closer. It looked like summer when they were maybe six. Gakushuu was smiling and carrying her on her back while she hung on.

She stared at it in confusion, tracing the outline of herself.

_Why would dad even have this still?_

Mitsuko sat on the floor, opening up the crayon drawings that were yellow and crinkly from age.

The first one was a badly drawn version of that stupid acorn Kunudon Gakushuu had made one sunny afternoon, and then the second drawing was of mountains and a river she’d drawn.

_He kept these…_

She felt something painful in her chest, blinking back tears.

_Why would he keep these?_

“Mitsuko!” Ritsu hissed. “Come on, we have to hurry!”

Mitsuko was jolted out of her memories and quickly scrunched up the drawings. “Right! Sorry!” She scrambled through the drawer and found the laptop. “Got it!”

She wiped her eyes and shoved the drawings and photo back in the drawer. Then opened up the laptop.

“Okay, hook me up,” Ritsu said.

She connected her to the Bluetooth of the laptop and then watched her work.

“Found anything?” Mitsuko asked.

Ritsu was sat in an armchair with a laptop on her knees. “Nearly!” She adjusted her glasses. “I think I might be getting through the firewall—Ow!” She winced, sucking her finger when it burned. “Wow! Your dad has great security?”

“Yeah, you can thank Gakushuu for that,” Mitsuko commented. “He’s tried to hack the Principal’s computer at least five times.”

Ritsu laughed. “I can see!” She frowned, narrowing her eyes. “Okay, I think I found it.”

Multiple documents suddenly appeared on the screen.

Mitsuko practically pressed her nose to the screen to read them all. “Okay, multiple liquid assets…bonds…okay, wow, this is a lot!”

“Downloading now.” Ritsu started individually grabbing the document tabs like they were paper and put them in a large bag.

Mitsuko anxiously kept eyeing the door. “Come on, hurry, we need to go.”

“I am hurrying!” Ritsu huffed, moving quicker to stuff more tabs into her bag. “Downloading takes time.”

The lights flickered on.

_Oh, fuck._

She groaned, running a hand through her hair anxiously. “Ritsu, I’m going to have a heart attack…”

“Stop making me feel bad!” Ritsu snapped, struggling to stuff more documents in the bag as it appeared overstuffed. “Okay! I’m done!”

Mitsuko disconnected her and shut the laptop down quickly. “Come on, come on,” she muttered under her breath as everything was closed and turned off.

“The Principal is coming back!” Ritsu more or less screamed. “GO!”

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?!”

“BECAUSE THE POWER WAS OUT!”

“You said you had a plan?!”

“IT WAS HALF A PLAN!”

“FUCK!!”

She slammed the laptop closed and quickly put it underneath the photo and drawings before closing the drawer shut.

Then she stuffed her burner phone in her pocket and grabbed her bag, rushing off to the door.

Her heart was bashing against her ribs too quickly, making it hard to breathe like she was racing up the mountain.

Mitsuko was holding her phone so hard it might break. “Where is he?” she whispered when she left the office and was out in the hallway. “Rits—?“

“Is there a particular reason you were visiting my office?”

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and it took all her will and courage not to jump out of her skin.

_Don’t panic._

Mitsuko let out a shallow breath and shakily slipped her phone into the front chest pocket of her blazer. “I completed the paperwork you wanted,” she replied quietly, turning around to give him a frown. “You said you wanted it done quickly.”

The Principal was further down the hall, but still close enough to have arrived recently. “I see,” he replied lightly, walking over. “Have all the amendments been made?”

She nodded, taking out the heap of revised documents. “Yes. The revenue has been re-calculated.”

He kept his gaze locked on her as he took the documents. “Hm.” He stared at her a moment longer. “How diligent of you.” The Principal finally looked down at the documents and skimmed them over for a second before turning the page. “Let’s review them.”

Mitsuko swallowed. “Lunch is almost over, I have class—“

“It’ll only take a few minutes,” he interrupted dismissively and then walked over to the office door, expecting her to follow.

She cringed, wanting to make a run for it. “Of course,” she replied calmly, taking a deep breath before following him.

He barely said a word when he casually sat down at his desk, the stack of papers neatly in front of him.

“Let’s see then,” he commented, clicking a pen as he started to read through the documents.

“Like I said,” Mitsuko said evenly, watching him. “I re-calculated everything. It just needs your signature.”

The Principal hummed, keeping his gaze on the paper, as he ticked and signed. “Yes, I can see that,” he replied, turning another page. “Very high standard of work it seems.”

Her eye twitched. “I’m not sloppy.”

He paused, glancing up with a smile. “No, I suppose not.”

Mitsuko felt like she was swallowing gravel. “Though, in my opinion, I think the budget cuts for A Class’s funding for the festival are unnecessary.” She narrowed her eyes. “One might even think petty.”

He just smiled at her. “I’m sure A-Class is resourceful enough to still pull something off.”

She scowled faintly, staying quiet while he finished going through the rest of the paperwork.

“Well, then.” He clicked his shiny pen and then slipped it back in his pocket. “Everything seems perfectly fine.” His smile was polite. “Very good work.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied flatly.

“Yes.” The Principal leaned back and opened the drawer to place the documents in.

For a horrifying few seconds, he just stared at the inside of the drawer.

Mitsuko’s face twitched, struggling to stay calm as the pressure mounted to suffocating levels.

Then he placed the documents in and closed it with a sharp click. “Make sure you aren’t late for class,” he told her lightly with a smile.

* * *

“So you think he suspects something?” Bitch-sensei said, while sat down on her luxuries modern sofa with a cup of coffee in hand.

The two of them were in her large penthouse apartment in the city—the whole place looked like some vintage rich set from some movie. With lots of space and expensive furniture, as well as a well-stocked bar and different machines to make multiple types of coffee or tea.

Mitsuko shrugged, sitting down opposite her. “He will.” She sipped her latte and then sighed, hugging the mug close. “I’ve been around him long enough to know when he’s planning something.”

Bitch-sensei hummed, watching her curiously. “He won’t actually do anything though?” She raised an eyebrow. “The most he can do is insult you, right?”

Mitsuko took a long sip of her latte. “Well…yeah, kind of.” She shifted uncomfortably, not sure if she was ready to tell Bitch-sensei what she’d told the others about her dad.

Did everyone have to know?

She was somewhat comfortable with Koro-sensei and her friends knowing, even though she wasn’t entirely happy about the whole of Class knowing some of the bad stuff that had happened over the years.

But she didn’t want everyone to know, or have to talk about it all the time with different people when it was embarrassing…

“He doesn’t hit you does he?” Bitch-sensei suddenly grew serious.

“No.” Mitsuko sighed tiredly, absently rubbing the back of her head. “No, he doesn’t.”

Bitch-sensei looked relieved. “Good.” She sipped her coffee. “I’ll shoot him if he does.”

Mitsuko nearly choked on her drink. “What?!”

The blonde smiled slyly from behind her cup. “It’d only be a flesh wound.” Her smile grew. “Or maybe just in the leg so he’s on crutches for a bit.”

Mitsuko laughed, starting to smile. “You’ll get fired.”

Bitch-sensei shrugged, sipping her drink. “This teaching gig is overrated—I’m an assassin first, remember?”

“Yeah, but you’re still a good teacher,” Mitsuko told her, smiling warmly.

A small frown appeared on Bitch-sensei’s face. “Hm.” She shrugged, finishing the rest of the coffee. “The pay still isn’t worth it.”

Mitsuko laughed softly. “Yeah, I know.”

“Mitsuko!” Ritsu called from her phone. “Sorry for interrupting, but you need to get home!”

“Oh, right!” Mitsuko quickly finished her drink. “Thanks, Ritsu.” She stood up and grabbed her bag. “My mom thinks I’m studying with Juba today.”

“How’d you get him to lie?” Bitch-sensei smirked. “Or did my lessons finally pay off?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t give yourself too much credit—I’m doing an extra study session with him and Mori tomorrow.”

“Surprised you have the time,” Bitch-sensei commented, glancing at the sports bag that was barely containing a basketball and hockey stick.

Mitsuko smiled grimly, hunching a little when she pulled the bag over her shoulders. “It’s fine! Ritsu’s helping me maintain my schedule, so my dad has barely noticed.”

“Right…” Bitch-sensei frowned but didn’t say much else. “Well, keep me updated on that plan of yours.” She smirked, flipping her hair back. “I know a thing or to about money laundering and stealing a rich guy’s assets.”

Her smile grew. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

* * *

Mitsuko sighed relief when she finally was able to open the front door after five minutes of struggling with her keys. “Ugh…”

She forgot how draining all these extracurricular activities could be after school.

All she wanted right now was a warm bath and sleep.

She dumped her bag on the floor near the door and then slipped off her shoes, kicking them towards the others who were in a neat pile.

“Mitsuko.” Her mom was calling from the dining room a few hallways down.

She frowned. “Yes?”

“Would you please come here.”

_What?_

Mitsuko stopped, feeling something uneasy start to grow in her stomach. “Okay…”

She looked down at her shoes and quickly neatened them up before she started to walk to the dining room. Her hands tugged down the hem of her blazer and skirt, as her socks padded across the polished wood.

Why was her mom even calling her? They barely ever spoke during a week, let alone after school.

She felt the colour drain from her face when she walked into the dining room and found her whole family was sat around the dining table with her laptop in the middle.

Mitsuko froze and stared at them, completely petrified.

Her dad was sat next to mom and looked bored, while Gakushuu was opposite them and looked extremely uncomfortably, and mom was…mom was just looking at her like she’d betrayed her.

“Please, sit…” Mom took a deep breath like she was trying not to cry. “Please sit down, Mitsuko.”

Mitsuko forced herself to walk over, feeling nauseous. “Um, is everything okay?” She asked, sitting down next to her brother, staring at her laptop the whole time. “D-did someone die or something?”

“No, no one died, Mitsuko,” Mom replied evenly. “Today, was very interesting, you see.” She placed her hand on top of the laptop. “Your father received a security alert that there was spyware in his laptop, so he asked me to take them all to a computer maintenance technician to make sure none of our computers had been hacked.”

Mitsuko felt vomit start to creep up her throat, but she swallowed it back. “Oh…”

Gakushuu grabbed her hand under the table, squeezing it tight.

“So,” Mom took a measured breath. “They checked all the computers and removed the spyware,” she continued. “And they found some…images and videos on your search history which were…” She looked like she’d be sick. “Of adult women.”

Mitsuko felt cold, staring at her mom in horror, but she couldn’t speak. Her whole throat felt like it was sealing up and bone dry. “Oh…Okay…”

Mom pursed her lips in a displeased line. “ Gakushuu and your father have told me they’ve been aware for some time,” she said coldly, making Gakushuu tense up. “And of course, like most things, it seems like everyone in this household is determined to lie and keep secrets.”

“I was going to tell you,” Mitsuko murmured, shifting uneasily. “But I-I was scared to.”

Something in her mom’s gaze softened. “Oh, sweetie…” Her smile was grim and sad; Mitsuko felt a swell of relief. “I know you’re scared, but it’s okay.” She sighed softly. “We’re going to get you a doctor who can get you on some medication, and you’ll be fine.”

“What?!” Mitsuko bolted to her feet, knocking the chair.

Gakushuu stood up. “What are you talking about!?”

Mom sighed, standing up. “Look, I just want you to see someone so we can try to get this fixed quickly.” She frowned. “You don’t have to be this way—they have doctors for this type of thing or councillors.”

“So, what I can get electrocuted or something!” Mitsuko snapped, growing scared.

Her mom looked annoyed. “It isn’t like that!” She sighed deeply, shaking her head. “This isn’t like those American Camps.” She tried to walk over to her but stopped when Gakushuu shoved Mitsuko behind him and glared at their mom.

“Don’t come any closer,” Gakushuu warned darkly.

Mom looked hurt. “Will you two, calm down!” Her eyes narrowed. “Look, puberty is a confusing time,” she said evenly, looking at Mitsuko. “All these feelings, they’re not real, it’s just hormones.”

Mitsuko’s eyes pricked with tears, the words cutting into her chest with a twist. “It’s not like that.” She gripped her brother's arm tight for support. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Yes, there is.” Mom was growing angry now. “T-these types of things, it’s all down to mental issues and it can get worse,” she said shakily. “I-I read the statistics, they have drug issues, and sexual diseases, and-and…” She started to tear up. “High suicide rates—“

“That’s enough, Mayumi,” their dad intervened calmly. “You’re overreacting.”

“I am not!” Their mom practically screamed at their dad, starting to cry. “If anything, I’m the only one trying to help!” She was shaking badly. “Which more than you’ve been doing when you knew this whole time.” Then her gaze darkened. “It’s your fault she’s like this! She’s been around too many boys, t-that’s why she’s being like this—if you hadn’t sent me away—“

“That is a completely illogical argument which is not relevant,” Dad interrupted coldly, making her flinch. “Mitsuko is bisexual because that is the way she was born, and no interference will change that.” He stood up and placed his hands on her small shoulders in what was supposed to be comforting. “I understand you’re worried, and the material on the laptop is concerning since it isn’t age-appropriate.”

Mom nodded, calming down as she leaned into his touch. “Y-yes.” She turned around and looked at Mitsuko sternly. “You’re banned from technology.”

“What?!” Mitsuko spluttered. “You can’t ban me from technology!”

Mom grabbed the laptop. “Yes, I can.” Then she marched over and held out her hand. “Give me your phone, _now_.”

Mitsuko hastily handed over the decoy phone which was swiftly grabbed. “How am I meant to do school work then…?”

“You can go to the library like everyone else,” Mom snapped. “Where you can’t look at things like that in public.” She scowled. “And you can use a payphone if you have to—and if I find out y-you’ve disobeyed me then…” The tears were resurfacing. “Then you’ll go somewhere where they can help you of—“

“You’re not sending her away!” Gakushuu said sharply, looking back and forth at his parents in shock.

Mom’s gaze was sad. “Gakushuu, please, it’s not something I’d want to do but Mitsuko needs help—“

“That’s bullshit,” he swore, taking them all by surprise. “If anyone needs fixing it’s you!”

“Gakushuu…” Mom winced, stepping back in alarm. “How could you say that…?”

“I think that’s quite enough,” Dad said lightly, frowning faintly. “Asano-kun, apologise to your mother.”

Gakushuu’s gaze was cold. “No.”

The Principal’s eyes narrowed. “ _Asano_ …”

Mitsuko squeezed her brother’s arm when he stayed silent. “Just apologise…” she muttered worriedly.

_It wasn’t worth them both getting in trouble…_

Gakushuu’s jaw clenched tight, teeth gritted when he lowered his glare. “…I apologise.”

Mom wiped her eyes. “I’m doing this to protect you both.”

“And none of us _want_ Mitsuko to be sent away,” their dad said calmly, looking at them both pointedly.

Mitsuko felt her blood run cold, while her brother tensed up.

_Had he wanted this just so he could turn mom against me?_

_Fuck._

Mom sighed, shaking her head. “Obviously, everyone has different opinions,” she said levelly. “But you two are young, you don’t understand the consequences of your choices.” She looked at Mitsuko pointedly. “This type of choice can jeopardise your entire future and career.”

Mitsuko cringed, looking away from her; her brother saw and held her hand comfortingly. It made her smile faintly and gain some more strength.

Her mom could throw a big tantrum or strip her room bare, but none of it would make her change how Rio made her feel...

“I’m not going to apologise for liking girls,” Mitsuko said firmly, meeting her mom’s gaze. “And nothing you say or do will change that.”

There was a long pause when mom just stared at her, but Mitsuko forced herself to keep looking at her until her mom finally looked away.

“…I want to know where you are at all times,” mom said stiffly. “I’ll drive you everywhere if I have to.” Her eyes narrowed. “Either way, this is something we are going to deal with, one way or another.”

And then with that, she turned around with the laptop and phone in hand and walked out of the room.

Mitsuko swallowed, still holding her brother’s hand while the Principal watched their mom leave.

“You’ll have to forgive your mother’s lack of…open-mindedness.” Dad smiled politely. “I’m sure she’ll come around eventually.” He flicked some loose hair off the polished table. “But in the meantime, I think it would be best if you didn’t aggravate her.”

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, glaring at him. “You planned this.”

“Now why on earth would I do that?” He raised an eyebrow. “I was responding to a potential hacking into our family’s security, the rest is just an unfortunate consequence.”

_Bastard._

Mitsuko felt herself shake with rage.

Gakushuu eyed him coldly. “You’re unbelievable.”

Dad hummed, remaining unconcerned. “I have work to do.” He turned to leave. “And I suggest in future you wipe your search history,” he commented offhandedly before closing the door behind him.

Mitsuko let out a frustrated scream and kicked the table leg, cracking an ugly dent into the wood.


	32. Doing whatever it takes to win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Please note that this chapter contains some upsetting scenes, so if you aren't in the right mindset, you might want to give it a pass...

Mitsuko stared up at the lights on the kitchen ceiling, lost in her thoughts as her eyes started to get dark spots from staring at the lights for too long.

She felt tired and it wasn't even evening yet...

"Wow, your theory on solving the triangle is a lot easier, Mitsuko." Kondo was happily solving the equation.

Mitsuko tapped her pencil against the table in the Mori's kitchen where a generous amount of snacks had been supplied.

She shrugged, looking back at the boys. "It's not my theory."

Juba adjusted his glasses. "Class E's teacher taught you, right?"

"Yes." Mitsuko sighed, turning the page of the textbook. "He's a good teacher..."

Tanaka scoffed, keeping his eyes glued to his work. "Well, anyone's better than Hisaya-sensei..."

Mori chuckled. "Hisaya-sensei isn't that bad—besides, we get top marks with him, so he must be doing something right."

"Doesn't make him less of a jerk," Mitsuko muttered, amusing them.

"He's only going to make your life hell, if you don't play nice, Mitsuko," Tanaka warned.

Kondo nodded. "Yeah, you might want to try sucking up to him to get back in his good books."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," she replied dryly, glancing at the clock. "Anyway, my mom will be here soon, so is there anything else you want me to help explain?"

"No, I think I get it," Mori replied, chewing the end of his pencil.

Juba nodded. "Me too."

"Um..." Kondo looked embarrassed. "Could you just explain one more thing, please?"

Mitsuko looked amused. "Yeah, sure."

He quickly shuffled his chair closer and showed her the problem. "I don't know if I'm calculating the brackets in the right order..."

"No problem." She remembered how Koro-sensei had explained it and started to relay it.

It felt nice telling and showing the others what Koro-sensei taught, she supposed she hadn't appreciated just how good his teaching was at time...even if half those times he acted like an idiot.

Mitsuko's chest ached from missing them, sighing quietly as she drew a small octopus on the corner of Kondo's notebook like Koro-sensei normally did.

She didn't care what her dad said, even if Koro-sensei was going to end the world, he was the best teacher they'd all ever had and probably would ever have again...

"Uh, why are you drawing an octopus?" Kondo stared at her in confusion.

Mitsuko straightened up. "Oh, uh..." She gave a nervous laugh when they looked at her. "No reason!"

"You've been doing that a lot," Mori pointed out. "You keep drawing octopuses everywhere."

Tanaka raised an eyebrow. "Are you suddenly into Tentacle porn or something?"

"No!" She went bright red. "Shut up! I-I just like drawing them is all!"

"Right..." Juba frowned, not looking convinced. "If you say so."

Mitsuko scowled. "You're all just gross." She grumbled under her breath and helped Kondo finish the problem. "Okay, I need to go, so I'll catch you guys at school."

She stood up and piled her things into her bag.

The boys looked amused but didn't push the subject, nodding along politely.

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" Kondo gave her a wave and a smile.

Mitsuko huffed and grabbed the rest of her things before heading to the door.

"They seem nice," Ritsu whispered from the hiding place in the inside blazer pocket.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow, opening her jacket to look at phone nestled in the pocket. "They're with league of plotting E Class's demise, so they aren't that nice."

Ritsu chuckled softly, smiling. "Well, they could be worse."

"Small blessings, I guess." She shrugged, waiting outside the front yard for her mom. "How is the hacking going?"

"Uh." Ritsu rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I am running into some issues verifying the signature, but I am working on a breakthrough!"

Mitsuko grimaced. "Please hurry...I'm not really sure how much longer I can take this..."

The AI grimaced, nodding. "I know! I'm trying to work fast, I swear." She looked up at her sympathetically. "I miss being able to talk more and plotting world domination..."

"Me too." Mitsuko sighed grimly. "The only free time I have is using the bathroom and sleeping..." She leaned against the fence tiredly. "My mom's become a prison guard—"

A loud familiar car honk came right on cue.

Mitsuko scowled and looked over her shoulder where her mom was parked across the street. "And speak of the devil," she muttered, closing her blazer. "I'll try and talk later."

"Good luck!" Ritsu whispered.

"Thanks..." She sighed and walked across the street the car and got in. "I don't even have music practice for another hour."

"I need to get there early for a good parking space," Mom replied, scowling. "Kamie's mother and her friends keep stealing all the best spots!"

Mitsuko sighed, resting her head against the window while she adjusted the bag on her lap. "I could have just gone myself..."

Mom gave her a look. "Don't bring this up again."

"But it's true..."

Mom started driving down the road. "You may think I'm being harsh, but I'm doing this to protect you."

Mitsuko stared out the window and watched the trees go by. "Yeah, sure, because you and dad are really winning parents of the year so far..."

Mom shifted in her seat and sighed. "Look, I know I've made mistakes, but I love you, and so does your father..." Her brow furrowed. "Your father especially might not be the most conventional parent, but he loves you and your brother more than anything..."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes. "And just how long are you actually going to keep this up?" she asked. "You can't just keep chauffeuring me around town every hour after school."

Mom sighed deeply. "Well, your father has offered his driver but the poor man is busy enough having to drive him to meetings in the city," she explained lightly. "I know the situation isn't ideal, but you brought this on yourself. I can't just have you wandering around the city doing who knows what with..." She wrinkled her nose.

Mitsuko groaned in exasperation. "Just because I like girls, doesn't automatically mean I'm going to start doing drugs and hanging out with bad people, mom." She glared at her mom. "You're just overreacting because some Housewife's weekly blurted out some 1950's fake facts on homosexuality."

"Stop patronising me," Mom snapped, frowning. "A lot of it is true!" She insisted. "Obviously I don't hate that kind of community—"

"Oh, yeah, _clearly,_ " Mitsuko commented dryly.

"Don't interrupt." Mom looked more irritated. "But those types of people spread so many diseases as well, and they have a lot of mental issues and suicide rates!"

"Wow, I wonder why?" Mitsuko snapped, growing more frustrated. "It couldn't possibly because their moms treat them like prisoners and punish them for so much as liking a girl!"

Mom looked away from the road and glared at her. "Don't take that tone with me." She looked back at the road and nearly took off the side mirror of a car. "I know you and your brother may think you know everything, but you don't, because you are a _child_."

_Just shut up!_

"And you're an alcoholic, what's your point?" Mitsuko snapped back.

Her mom slammed her foot on the breaks right in front of a set of green lights.

Mitsuko choked when she jerked forward, the seatbelt digging into her throat when she was violently pushed back by the force.

"What did you say?!" Mom turned and looked almost demonic when she glared at her.

Mitsuko pressed her back against the door, realising she'd overstepped. "Uh..."

The cars behind them beeped loudly in anger.

"Do you have any idea of how much of a spoilt brat you are?" Mom told her viciously. "Do you have any idea how much stress you and your brother put me through every day?" She looked like she was fighting back tears, growing red in the face from anger. "I cook, and clean, and am literally giving up my life just to make sure you're safe and you don't appreciate any of it!"

Mitsuko cringed, half tempted to open the door and escape. "I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"No, of course, you didn't think, because that would involve thinking of other people besides yourself now wouldn't it?" Mom interrupted harshly, starting the car again to set off when the cars behind honked more aggressively.

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably and wisely kept silent while her mom drove the rest of the way.

* * *

Two weeks, it had been two weeks and still nothing.

Mitsuko rested her head on the table in the school library, staring blankly at nothing particular. Everything started to feel like before, with the constant studying and afterschool activities alongside cram school.

She barely even had time to try to sneakily text Sugaya or Rio anymore since there seemed to be even more cameras around the school and her mom was watching her like a hawk at home.

She curled more in on herself, feeling numb.

"...Are you alright?" Gakushuu rested a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him frowning when she saw the concerned frown on his face. "Oh, hi..." She sighed, turning back to her work. "Aren't you meant to be in a council meeting?"

"I finished the meeting early," he said, sitting down next to her.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "You finished a meeting early?" She snorted, feeling a bit of her old self-return. "Has hell finally frozen over?"

The corner of his lip twitched upwards. "You're not funny," he replied, opening his book.

"Still funnier than you," she replied automatically, smiling a little.

He rolled his eyes and studied the book. "I've been doing some thinking..."

"Okay," she replied, frowning a little.

His mouth was set in a displeased line. "That friend of yours texted me, the delinquent."

"Karma texted you?" her brow rose.

"No." Gakushuu scoffed. "If Akabane somehow got my number I'd file a restraining order," he commented dryly, shaking his head. "No, the other one who has a tendency to vandalise."

Her eyes widened. "Sugaya texted you?"

"Yes," he replied testily. "How he got my number, I have no idea."

"He probably just bribed your Fanclub," Mitsuko replied. "They are practically your stalkers."

"Yes, well anyway..." Her brother looked uncomfortably. "Apparently you aren't answering his texts on that cheap junk of yours."

"I've tried too, but I can't even use the bathroom now without mom timing me." Mitsuko felt guilty. "But what did he say, anyway?"

Gakushuu glanced around warily. "He wants to meet you after assembly...I've made the arrangements."

"Wait." Mitsuko looked at him in confusion. " _You_ arranged a meeting?"

"Well, I assumed you'd agree to it," he replied irritably. "I'm not a receptionist—"

"No, no, I mean, _you_ of all people agreed to arrange a meeting for me to meet my delinquent friend," she explained slowly, staring at him in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

His brow furrowed. "Because you asked for my help," he replied impatiently. "And regardless of how I feel towards E Class, you're my sister." He sighed irritably. "I told I'd been thinking, and I realised the last thing I want is for you to be sent away, which you're doing a remarkable job of fast-tracking by the way." Gakushuu glared at her. "Needless to say, when it comes down to a choice of you being sent to E Class rather than some distant school in the Alps or Australia. E Class is the lesser evil..."

A warm smile spread across her face, hugging him tight, feeling a fresh breath of life fill her. "Thank you..."

He looked disgusted. "Yes. Yes, I know." He pried her off him. "Just meet him after assembly near the sports equipment shed away from the cameras—and tell him I'm blocking his number."

* * *

Mitsuko looked over her shoulder apprehensively as she walked to the meeting point after assembly.

She paused outside the supply shed and looked around. "Uh...hello?"

A shiver ran down a spine when she felt a mass dark shadow elope her. "What the...?"

Before she could blink a bag was thrown over her head as she was grabbed by multiple hands.

* * *

She heaved a deep breath when the bag was finally removed and she looked around frantically.

"The hell is—?"

"WE MISSED YOU!"

The entirety of class E surrounded her like a crazed mob.

Mitsuko gawked when she realised she was back in the Old Campus building. "U-uh..."

She looked around and felt a sudden rush of happiness when she saw the classroom, which instantly disappeared when she realised she was duct-taped to a chair in the middle of the room.   
  


"WHY AM I DUCT TAPED TO A CHAIR?!!" She screamed at them.

"Uh..."

Class E looked sheepish.

Karma smirked, twirling the tape around his finger. "Well, we had to be authentic."

Rio grinned slyly. "It's good practice after all."

Isogai smiled and her sympathetically and cut her loose. "I told them it was a bad idea."

"So we overruled him," Sugaya teased.

Mitsuko glared at them as Isogai removed the tape. "You're all completely insane—like seriously, who does this?!"

"We didn't have much choice!" Ritsu said from her screen at the back. "Your parents were practically keeping you, prisoner."

"Yeah, and they'll ship e off after this," Mitsuko replied, resting her hands on her hips. "It'll take me ages to get down the hill at this rate!"

Her classmates started to smile slyly.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Rio remarked lightly.

"Huh?" Mitsuko frowned at them.

Maehara chuckled. "Yeah, your dad is going to be busy dealing with Terasaka and his gang."

Her eyes widened when she realised, Terasaka, Hazama, Yoshida, and Muramatsu were absent. "Um, what did you guys do?"

Okuda smiled brightly. "I gave them a little something to clog all the pipes at the main campus!"

Takebayashi smirked, adjusting glasses. "So the Principal might be a little busy dealing with that."

Ritsu smiled brightly. "I already checked the school cameras, the toilets are already overflowing!"

Nagisa looked amused. "Which should give us more than enough time."

Mitsuko stared at them in disbelief. "You guys are...unbelievable." She started to smile. "You're actually crazy."

Rio smirked, nudging her. "Yeah, well, blame your parents for going full prison warden."

"And we have good news!!" Ritsu exclaimed excitedly. "Itona helped me crack the code."

"Itona?" Mitsuko frowned. "The weird tentacle kid?"

"I'm right here." A boy with white hair and a bandana suddenly appeared next to her.

"Ah!" Mitsuko nearly jumped into Rio's arms. "When did you get here?!"

"Long story short he's on our side now," Rio said, chuckling. "He joined about three days ago."

"Yeah, after Shiro was framing Koro-sensei for stealing girls underwear," Sugaya said, and then scowled. "Dude, I like texted you ten times about it."

"I can't let my mom and dad know I have a secret phone remember?" She sighed, eyeing Itona curiously. "Besides I tuned out when you started randomly hysterically texting about underwear—I thought you were just being a pervert."

Sugaya blushed. "Hey!"

"Whatever." The boy, Itona, already looked bored. "Look, I know how you can get control of your dad's stuff." He held up some kind of scanned. "All we need is your dad's thumbprint, get that and we have control."

Mitsuko frowned, holding up the scanner which was about the size of a credit card and bulky like a TV remote, it looked hand made since the metal was scratched and had dents in it. "So I just need to scan a fingerprint?"

Itona nodded. "Then just use a USB line to hook it up to a computer to email it."

"Right..." She stared at the device.

Rio placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, you got this."

"Yeah, you have us, remember?" Sugaya punched her other arm playfully.

Mitsuko nodded, smiling faintly. "You're right, I do." She took a deep breath and placed her hand on top of Rio's. "It'll be okay."

* * *

"I can clean dad's office if you want?" Mitsuko told her mom cautiously from where she was studying.

Mom frowned, the vacuum in on hand while the other held the cord. "No, it's fine." She turned away dismissively, walking out of the kitchen. "You're studying—"

"I don't mind." Mitsuko rushed to her feet to block her path, practically grabbing the vacuum. "Besides I could use a break from it all." Then she smiled feebly. "Um, besides, it's like you said, you already work so hard...I just want to help out."

Mom scrutinised her for a while. "Hm." She backed off. "Alright, but make sure you do it properly. I'll be checking."

Mitsuko nodded. "I will." She started walking to the office while her mom shook her head dismissively and went back to the kitchen.

As soon as she entered the office she plugged the vacuum in and then left it on the side.

She took out the scanner and fiddled to twitch it on, walking over to where the computer mouse was on the desk.

"Please work," she muttered, scanning the mouse a few times with the device.

"Are you actually cleaning in there?!" Mom nagged from the kitchen.

"Yes!" Mitsuko slipped the scanner in her pocket and then hastily rushed over and grabbed the vacuum, cleaning the floor in a rush.

Mom poked her head around the door, eyeing her suspiciously. "You'll never clean anything like that!" She huffed when she saw her dragging the vacuum over the floor, barely picking up any dirt. "Give me that."

Mitsuko gladly handed the machine over. "What? I was trying."

Mom scoffed. "And failing." She started hoovering. "You need to hold it down long enough and get the corners."

Mitsuko was already backing away towards the door. "Oh, well!" She rubbed the back of her neck. "Guess I'll just wash the dishes then."

Mom looked over in annoyance. "Wait a second—"

Mitsuko shut the door and rushed upstairs to Gakushuu's room. She didn't even knock and just barged in while her brother was studying at his desk.

"Will you just knock?!" he snapped.

She closed the door behind her and placed the device on the desk. "No time. Download what's on that and email me the images on my new email address. It's urgent."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" she ordered impatiently and then was out of the room a second later.

* * *

She was going to vomit, it was obvious and she could already feel her breakfast start to climb its way up her throat and burn.

Mitsuko hid in one of the cleaning closets, clutching her phone shakily.

"You can do this," Ritsu reassured her from the screen. "You're the one in control here."

She swallowed. "Really?" Why was it so hard to breathe right now? "Because I don't feel like I am."

"Don't think like that, that's exactly what he wants."

"Because it's true," Mitsuko whispered, starting to feel the fear get the best of her. "He's my dad, Ritsu, he's terrified me my entire life." She felt nauseous. "Every time I've tried to confront him he's beaten me back down..."

Ritsu's eyes narrowed. "Now, you listen to me!" Her voice grew firmer. "The biggest lie my masters ever convinced me of was that they controlled me, but they were wrong!" She stamped her foot. "Even if meant they'd tear me apart or try to remake me, I didn't and will never allow them to control me again." She gestured to the closet. "This isn't living. This is just spending your entire life in a prison and letting him control you because you're too scared of him." Her gaze grew earnest. "If everything is destroyed by March, is this where you want to be?"

Mitsuko took a deep breath, grimacing. "No..."

Ritsu nodded. "You've gotten this far no matter how many times he's tried to push you back and line—don't let him win."

She swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded, standing up. "Okay. Let's do this."

Ritsu smiled up at her. "That's more like it."

Mitsuko walked out and composed herself, slipping the phone in her pocket as she walked to the Principal's office.

"I have the assets on file if he thinks we're lying," Ritsu reassured her from her pocket.

"Thanks." She walked down the hallway and didn't hesitate when she knocked on the door of his office.

There was a pause. "Come in."

Mitsuko swallowed and walked inside where her dad was at his desk writing something down; he didn't even look up when she came in.

She let out a sigh and walked over to the desk. "We need to talk."

The Principal kept writing. "You are aware you're currently skipping class?" he drawled, turning the page of whatever document he was signing. "Please kindly return before I need to take further action."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes. "No."

He stopped writing for a second, and then finally glanced up to give her a disinterested look. "Tardiness is a serious violation of rules—"

"I'm not going to A-Class anymore," she interrupted, gathering more of her strength. "I refuse."

Her dad stared at her blankly. "Really?"

She pulled out a transfer form she'd already signed. "You're transferring me back to E Class _today_ ," she told him, placing the form on the desk.

He raised an eyebrow. "Am I?" He clicked his pen and leaned back in his chair. "Well, that's interesting."

Mitsuko kept calm. "I know about the extra schools your building," she told him. "And I have control of the assets and the contracts." That managed to make his eyes narrow. "I know for a fact if I purge everything it'll delay the projects for at least another year, which you might not have." She held up the phone to show the photos of the assets. "And even if the world doesn't end, I'll make such a shit storm that the government doesn't so much as lend you another piece of yen."

His mouth set in a thin line. "That would be irritating," he replied lightly, frowning at her. "Those schools have been quite an interesting project." The dismissive sigh he gave made her stomach churn. "But I'm sure I'll cope."

"What are you talking about?" She questioned, glaring at him. "I know how much you love education."

"Yes, I do." He stood up, making her falter. "But a building is nothing without its education values, and if I let those fall then I might as well be building a shell," he told her. "The delays would be a setback...but my students' education is and always has been more important."

Her hands shook a little, as she tried to stay strong and stand her ground. "I'm not bluffing, I'll do it."

"Yes, I know you will." He smiled faintly. "I'm quite impressed—this is the potential I've been trying to nurture, Mitsuko." He stepped around the desk, making her tense up. "You have to be willing to do anything to win, and you've finally realised that."

"W-what, no," Mitsuko stepped back, staring at him in shock. "No, that's not..."

"Don't come near her!" Ritsu popped on the screen and glared at him. "Or I swear, I'll infect the school computers faster than you can say—"

"Ritsu-san, unless you would like to find yourself expelled from my school and have your masters come to collect you, I recommend you return to your correct classroom," The Principal interrupted coldly, easily swiping the phone out of Mitsuko's hand.

"Leave her alone!" Mitsuko tried to grab the phone back.

He kept her at arms bay and turned the phone off. "I believe your mother specifically banned you from technology."

She shoved him but he didn't budge. "I'm not staying in A-Class!"

His eyes narrowed coldly. "You're absolutely right. You won't be going back there," his tone made her freeze when she realised what was coming. "I have given you every opportunity, perhaps spending the remainder of the term overseas will teach you some gratification."

_No._

The deep ache that had been festering for weeks and months grew too big like it was sucking the life from her. She felt helpless again like he was shoving her back in a box.

Mitsuko closed her eyes tight. "No," she said, shaking her head as she tried to regain control. "I already told you, you're not sending me away."

Something kept her planted on the spot and stopped her from running.

_Enough was enough._

He shook his head dismissively. "You lost the privilege of a choice the moment you walked in."

_I've always had a choice._

He turned back to his desk, already losing interest like always.

She felt complete clarity at that moment as everything started to fit together like a puzzle she'd spent years trying to complete but could never find all the pieces.

Because what else was there besides Gakushuu and E Class? Going back to the constant studying, the never-ending after school clubs and lessons, and then go home to spend what little free time left being treated like an unstable mess by her own mother.

_Ritsu was right, that wasn't living._

Mitsuko looked at the window and then at her father, the person who her mom kept saying loved her more than anything.

_Maybe it was time to test that theory._

The Principal opened his drawer and carelessly dropped the phone in. "Now, quietly go wait outside while—what are you doing?"

Mitsuko locked eyes with her dad and slipped the window open. "Sign the form," she told him solemnly.

He completely froze and stared at her for a moment, but then sighed impatiently. "Get down from there and stop wasting my time."

She narrowed her gaze. "No."

His eyes grew colder. " _Mitsuko._ Get down."

"I said." Mitsuko fully stepped onto the thin window ledge; making him tense up. "Sign the form!"

"Mitsuko," he snapped, raising his voice. "Get down now—"

"SIGN THE FORM!!"

She kicked the window hard.

"Don't!" He lurched forward when the glass shook. "Mitsuko, get inside this instant."

" _No._ "

"This is ridiculous." He moved to the window and tried to grab her. "I said—"

She moved further out, clinging on with clammy hands as she watched the colour drain from his face. "Don't touch me."

He froze, hand mid-way trying to reach out. "This is..." He was glitching out, she could hear it in his voice. "Mitsuko..." His voice softened to something more calming. "I understand this is all very upsetting, but you aren't well, I'm trying to help you."

Her eyes were already watering from tears, completely terrified out of her mind but... _what else was there?_

"I'm doing what you wanted though!" The tears were falling now, struggling to breathe properly with the outside wind hitting her face. "I have to do anything to win, right?!"

And finally, she saw it, actual genuine fear all over his face.

"Mitsuko, just..." His face looked like it was having a spasming for a moment as he held his hand out for her to take. "Just come inside and I'll sign the form."

"No! Sign it first!" she yelled at him, not trusting him to keep his word. "Sign it!"

Her heart hammered against her chest in terror when her foot started to slip.

He edged closer to her. "Come inside and we can discuss this where it's safe."

"NO!" She yelled at him.. "You're lying! Just like you do with _everything!_ " Her hands were trembling as she struggled to hang on. "Sign the form and give it to me!"

"Mitsuko—"

"DOI IT!" She screamed so loud he jerked back in alarm.

"Alright." He looked and sounded completely flustered. "Look." Then to her relief and shock, he went over to his desk and signed the form. "I've signed it." The form was scrunched up in hand. "Now get inside!"

She stared at the form, wondering how much worse he'd make her life if he was lying. Her feet were slipping from how much she was shaking.

"Everything will be fine." He was staring at her desperately, looking like an actual father for the first time in years. "Just _please_ come back inside."

Mitsuko hesitated, and then reached out and tried to take the form his outstretched hand.

His other hand locked onto her arm in a vice grip when she snatched the form and...

...The tips of her shoes slid against the glass as she fell.

The air was knocked out of her when she shrieked so loud she couldn't even hear her dad yelling.

Her head bashed against the window when yellow tentacles desperately stretched from the side to grab her and soften the fall when she bounced off the ground, wrapping around her like a protective cocoon.

"Mitsuko!" Koro-sensei sounded panicked.

She winced, closing her eyes tight when her head throbbed and something that felt a lot like blood started to trickle from her head.

Her arms and whole body felt bruised and she couldn't think straight from how bad her head hurt.

Mitsuko hissed, burying her head in her teacher's chest for comfort, feeling safe again.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Please for all that is good in this world, DO NOT threaten to jump out of buildings to prove a point!
> 
> Just the thought is giving me anxiety XD


	33. Gakuhou Asano's Warped Perspective

There was one memory that always stood out from the rest, and one he couldn’t forget no matter how much he tried.

The weather had been hot that spring, the whole mountain covered in a warm glow of sun for weeks now.

Gakuhou read from his lesson plan as he jotted down on the board.

Then Ikeda gave a loud obnoxious yawn from the front of the class. “Sir! This is boring!”

He paused and looked over, raising a brow at him. “Really?” The corner of his lips edged upwards when he saw the frown on his student’s face.

Mori and Nakai were absent today, so Ikeda was the only one in class, which was something he had spent the last hour making very clear he disliked.

It didn’t help that his children were currently playing at the back of the classroom either, and if they didn’t have such a tendency to wander off to go exploring, Gakuhou would have suggested they have the lesson outside.

“Can’t we just call it a day?” Ikeda scowled, burying his face in his desk. “It’s boring!”

“As you’ve said already,” Gakuhou commented dryly, placing the chalk down. “But the work is quite interesting when you think about it,” he argued, smiling in amusement when Ikeda sighed. “Matter and atoms are fascinating, they’re what form everything around us.”

Ikeda lifted his head to fix him with an unimpressed look. “And how is that going to help me in life? I don’t want to be a scientist…”

“Daddy, look!” Gakushuu interrupted by bounding towards the front of the class holding up the bunch of crossword puzzles Gakuhou had given him earlier. “I finished them all!”

“Me too!” Mitsuko came stumbling after her brother with a stack of paper in her hand. “Look!”

_The puzzles had meant to keep them distracted for another hour!_

Gakuhou held back a sigh, bending down as they approached.

_Whoever had said intelligent children were a blessing, hadn’t realised just how short their attention spans were…_

“That’s very good,” he replied patiently, patting them both on the head while they smiled up at him proudly. “But daddy is teaching, remember? You need to wait unless it’s very important.”

“But this is important!” Mitsuko objected, frowning. “You said if we finished we could go outside and explore the woods!”

“Yeah!” Gakushuu yelled. “We want to go exploring!”

Gakuhou held back a sigh. “Not yet. You need to wait until I’m finished.”

“I’ll go with them!” Ikeda piped up.

“No—“

“YAY!” Mitsuko and Gakushuu cheered together. “Let’s go! Let’s go!”

Gakuhou pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, we can’t just—“

“It’s nearly lunch anyway!” Ikeda said brightly, hopping out of his seat.

Gakuhou gave him a look. “It’s ten in the morning…”

“Daddy, let’s go!” Mitsuko hopped up and down excitedly. “We’re going exploring!”

“Let’s go, come on!” Gakushuu started pulling his arm, while Mitsuko tried to climb on her dad’s back.

“Go, daddy, go!” she commanded, hitting him on the head like he was some kind of horse.

Gakuhou sighed quietly and gave in. “…Alright, but only for half an hour and then it’s back to work.”

The twins cheered while Ikeda smirked and picked up his basketball.

He supposed a short break couldn’t do too much harm, and Ikeda might be more focussed afterwards.

Gakuhou carried his daughter on his back, making sure her arms were securely around his neck, while his son held his other hand and pulled him along.

Ikeda was in front tossing his basketball up and down in the air while he followed them into the trees.

“Be careful,” Gakuhou warned when they found a nice quiet spot in the sun among the trees. “There’s still snakes and animals around that could be dangerous.”

His son looked unbothered and was already staring at a tall tree. “Okay.”

Gakuhou gently lifted Mitsuko off his back when he bent down and placed her on the ground. “Stay where I can see you.”

“We will!” Mitsuko replied brightly, her pigtails bobbing when she nodded her head enthusiastically. “We’re smart explorers!”

“Of course.” Gakuhou nodded solemnly and then watched when they both ran off to climb a tree.

“How come your wife gets to dump them on you whenever she wants?” Ikeda asked, looking at him curiously. “She knows you’re working.”

Gakuhou chuckled. “I wouldn’t call it quite like that,” he replied, keeping an eye on his kids while they played. “I’m their father, that means I have a responsibility to look after them.” He shrugged, looking at him. “Their mother is entitled to time for herself just as much as I am.”

Ikeda frowned. “But she doesn’t work?”

“She looks after the home and our children, that is a full-time job in itself,” he replied evenly. “Just because it doesn’t pay doesn’t mean it isn’t valid.”

“Oh.” Ikeda’s frown deepened. “I guess I never thought of it like that…”

“Ah! DADDY!” Mitsuko was yelling.

Gakuhou sighed deeply, closing his eyes in exasperation.

He’d only looked away for a few seconds…

“Gaku-nii hurt me!”

“I did not!”

Mitsuko came barrelling into her dad. “He _pushed_ me!” She looked up with fake tears in her eyes and her pigtails lopsided. “And he did it on purpose!”

“NO, I DIDN’T!” Gakushuu came running over, outraged. “I-I was trying to climb the tree and she kept—she kept trying to climb over me!”

“No, I didn’t!” Mitsuko sniffled, hugging her dad’s legs.

Gakuhou let out a deep breath. “Gakushuu, don’t push your sister,” he chided, sitting down, and then pulled a smug-looking Mitsuko onto his lap so he could fix her hair. “And Mitsuko, stop exaggerating, you aren’t even hurt.”

“Told you.” Gakushuu looked smug now.

His daughter crossed her arms and huffed. “I’m a girl so he isn’t allowed to push me!”

“No, he isn’t.” Gakuhou smoothed her hair back down and re-tied the pigtails back into place. “Gakushuu, be nice to your sister.” He looked at his son pointedly. “You have to be gentle when you play with others.”

Her brother stomped his foot and scowled. “I am gentle!” His bottom lip wobbled. “It’s not fair.”

Mitsuko stuck her tongue out at him.

Gakuhou sighed tiredly, while Ikeda seemed to find the whole thing funny.

“Hey! Shuu-chan!” Ikeda chimed.

Gakushuu scowled. “That’s not my name!” But the scowl vanished when the basketball was rolled over to him. “Oh.”

“Come on, we can play catch.” Ikeda grinned. “All the best basketball players have to know how to pass to their teammates properly.”

Gakuhou smiled in relief when his son’s scowl disappeared and was replaced with a bright smile.

“Okay!” His son stumbled a bit when he picked up the basketball which was bigger than his head. “Catch it.”

“Be careful please,” he told them warily. “I don’t want a repeat of last week.”

Ikeda smiled sheepishly. “We’ll be careful don’t worry.” And to prove a point he slowly threw the ball towards Gakushuu so that it rolled on the ground. “See!”

Gakuhou smiled in amusement, resting a hand on Mitsuko’s head. “Do you want to join, Mitsuko?”

“No!” The glare she gave him made it clear she hadn’t forgotten last week’s incident either when the ball had been thrown at her by accident.

“Okay, then.” He chuckled faintly, kissing the top of her head. “That’s fine, we can just watch.”

She huffed, resting her head on his chest while she grabbed his hand and traced the creases on his palm.

Gakuhou smiled fondly when he saw his son’s face scrunch up in concentration as he threw the basketball back at Ikeda who caught it easily.

“Yours is different,” Mitsuko mumbled, looking up with the same violet eyes as him.

“Hm?”

She poked his palm pointedly. “The lines. Look.” Her hand was raised so he could see the slightly different creases in her small hand.

He nodded, smiling. “Yes, they are different, that’s very clever.”

Her brow furrowed, looking at her hand. “Why though?”

“They’re palmer flexion creases.” Her eyes widened in confusion. “They’re lines that help us fold our hands.” He placed her hand on top of his so both the palms were facing up. “Sometimes the way people fold their hands is unique to other people.”

She smiled when she held her hands close together. “Mine match!” she said when the lines were perfectly symmetrical.

“But mine doesn’t. See?” He placed his under hers, showing the palm lines not matching up.

Mitsuko examined his palm for a long time and kept comparing it to hers, tracing the lines. “Like fingerprints…it’s special.” Her smile grew. “Mine are different to yours because I’m special!”

That was certainly one way of looking at it. “Yes, you are.” He rested his chin on the top of her head. “These are the small things which make you unique.”

She looked extremely pleased by that and snuggled into his arms while she held his hand close. “Special…”

* * *

Gakuhou stared at the creases in Mitsuko’s palm while he held her hand.

She was sleeping in the hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around her crown.

“She’ll be fine once the pain medication wears off—she just needs rest for the next few days.” The Nurse was chattering away. “We’re very lucky the damage wasn’t serious, but the doctor has advised she stay in until evening so we can make sure there’s no internal bleeding.”

“Yes.” He hummed, still staring at Mitsuko—the near half side of her neck was badly bruised, an ugly purple blemish growing darker. He grimaced and looked up at the nurse, but then regretted it when she gave him a grim sympathetic smile.

“She’s going to be fine,” she reassured him with a disgustingly warm smile. “Accidents happen, but you need to warn her from climbing around the school roof. Teenagers these days will do anything if their classmates encourage them.”

He was confused for a second until he remembered that was the excuse he’d given them when they’d asked.

A better alternative to having to say his daughter had tried to hurl herself out of a window just to prove a point.

“Oh, yes, I’ll keep that in mind,” he told the nurse, looking away dismissively.

The nurse just kept smiling sympathetically until she finally left and shut the door behind her.

Gakuhou stared at Mitsuko for a long time in silence.

This wasn’t supposed to have happened, but it did, and right in front of him in _his_ school.

He’d expected her to be overemotional and predicted her to yell and scream about how much she hated him; that was perfectly normal. He wasn’t afraid of that.

But this, this whole mess, was terrifying.

He hesitantly traced the lines in her palm. Her hand was still smaller than his, still a child’s. He held it tight when her fingers twitched, reminding himself that she was still alive and would wake up. Unlike Ikeda.

Something painful twisted in his stomach at that.

She had always been so different and unique from Gakushuu in all the worst ways, a combination of too much emotional, naivety, and stubbornness which could have only come from her mother since it was beyond reason and logic.

Then again, Gakushuu could be quick to anger too, but he supposed both his children had the misfortune of inheriting his wife’s temper and flair for the dramatics.

His wife…

He grimaced when he thought of how Mayumi would react to all this…

He glanced at his watch and sighed, it had only turned one in the afternoon, so he still had time to somehow figure out what he would say to her and Gakushuu…

Gakuhou tensed when he realised someone had entered the room. His gaze grew cold when he realised who it was and looked up.

Class E’s teachers looked unusually solemn as he stood in the corner of the hospital room.

“Leave,” he ordered the teacher who was only still at the school by the grace of his generosity.

“I came to see if she was alright,” Koro-sensei said quietly, looking up at Mitsuko sadly. “I’m thankful I got there in time…”

“I am thankful as well. You saved my child’s life, and for that, I am in your debt.” Gakuhou squeezed Mitsuko hand too tight, nearly crushing her fingers. “Which is why I will not be firing you for filling my daughter’s head with such weakness.”

Koro-sensei grew on guard, watching him closely. “And what weakness would that be?”

Gakuhou stared at him darkly, standing up. “Strength does not come from relying on others,” he told him, placing Mitsuko’s hand on her stomach when she stirred in her sleep. “With each attachment, a weakness is formed, a dependency that when removed results in _this_.”  
  


He stared at her remorsefully, the bruises on her arms and neck only acting as reflections of his failure to protect her. Gakuhou shifted some of her hair over to cover the blemish on her neck so he wouldn’t have to look at it.

“She’s always been an emotional child,” he kept speaking while Koro-sensei remained silent. “And my most difficult student.” His brow furrowed in irritation. “But with some more time and my guidance, she would have risen far.”

Cold and detached, with no emotional connection or dependency on others. She would have been perfect, everything she should be. Nothing would be able to break her.

“I think that’s where we disagree again,” Koro-sensei replied lightly. “The things you think make her weak are exactly what makes her strong.”

Gakuhou scrutinised the yellow tentacle teacher coldly. “A lovely sentiment for the storybooks I’m sure,” he replied dryly, staring back down at Mitsuko. “Unfortunately the real world is less ideal”

“Yes, I know.” The amount of certainty in his voice made Gakuhou narrow his eyes curiously. “…Mitsuko was quite vocal about that when she first came to E Class…along with some sharp remarks about my teaching capabilities and qualifications.”

Gakuhou felt a tiny spark of amusement at that, but he didn’t let it show.

“While you may disagree with my teaching, you can’t ignore that she has been happier since joining my class,” Koro-sensei continued. “And whether you think happiness is important or not, you can’t deny she seemed much more stable when she was in E Class…”

“Happiness was never necessary for success,” he remarked quietly, keeping his gaze on his daughter.

“…And unhappiness is?”

Gakuhou paused, trying not to let his discomfort show. Mitsuko was an emotional child and he had, perhaps, underestimated just how strong those emotions could influence her actions…

He’d admit, that logically a small measured amount of happiness was important for her mental health, something to help drive purpose. For reasons he couldn’t fully understand, she had tied all her purpose to her classmates who would only disappoint her.

But keeping her away from them only seemed to make things worse…

…He needed re-think his strategy since the only way of making her listen was to _show_ her he was right, and the most logical way to do that was to put E Class in their rightful place below their betters.

“I am confident in my teaching and education.”Gakuhou watched as her brow furrowed and stirred restlessly. “And soon it won’t be long until you and the rest of Class E realise that.” He looked over his shoulder. “Now kindly leave.”

Koro-sensei didn’t move straight away. “…Very well.” He nodded. “But you won’t be able to stop my students from visiting.” Some humour was in his voice. “They’re quite persistent when they set their minds on something.”

Gakuhou practically glared at him. “I’ll keep that in mind when I call security.”

Koro-sensei didn’t seem concerned, already slithering out of the window with his tentacles. “I’m sure they’ll enjoy the challenge.”

His eye twitched from annoyance as he watched the overgrown octopus finally leave.

The hospital room was silent again once he was gone.

He looked back down at Mitsuko and hesitantly sat down on the side of the bed, making the mattress dip. Her face was still pulled into a troubled grimace, making him wonder if she was having some kind of nightmare, which would be expected after nearly dying.

He reached out and smoothed some hair out of her eyes. He kept his hand on her forehead which seemed to calm her as the frown on her face faded.

There was a small persistent paternal feeling threatening to creep back when he was reminded how close he’d come to losing her.

It was…frightening. He hadn’t acted as a father in years to the point he wasn’t sure how to be.

Gakuhou sighed and moved off the bed and to the window, trying to think of what to do.

Logically, it was a distraction, something he couldn’t afford at this point. All of Mitsuko’s actions had been a distraction to keeping his education regimen strong while through the turbulent months…

Whether he liked it or not, Koro-sensei had been correct in some regards about her happiness. Her reckless actions had only escalated over the months the more his wife caged her in or he tried to keep her in A-Class.

And, if he sent her away then who was not say she wouldn’t become even more irresponsible and try to…

Gakuhou sighed tired, looking back at Mitsuko and felt his choices dwindling when it became apparent what the most logical choice was.


	34. I can't lose you

Mitsuko groaned, stirring away when the pain from her head to her toes finally hit. She ached all over and her head felt like there was cotton wool stuffed inside.

She eased her eyes open and then flinched when the bright light from the window hit her at full force. "Shit..." she croaked, her throat dry, turning her head to see who was holding her hand so tight.

"Mitsuko?!" Her brother was sat next to her side in an uncomfortable-looking hospital chair, holding her hand tight. He looked tired and washed out, and his uniform was even a little scruffy in comparison to its usual perfect state.

She felt a rise of guilt, wincing when she forced herself to sit up. "Hey—"

To her complete shock, he rushed forward and pulled her into her a hug, holding onto her like she'd slip away from him.

"What were you thinking?" His voice was mumbled and weak.

Mitsuko tried to hide a wince when her bruises hurt from the embrace. "I..." She sighed, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry..."

He clung onto her for a long while, the two of them stayed silent.

"...It's okay," she reassured him, sighing. "I'm fine. Everything's fine..."

He slowly pried himself away from her, giving her a hard glare. "You nearly dying is definitely not fine." He crossed his arms. "If you're going to kill yourself, then you better have the damn curtesy to drag me along as well so I won't be stuck picking up the pieces for our poor excuse for parents."

She sighed, grimacing. "I'm sorry." Her gaze shifted to her bruised arms. Her blazer had been removed so she was in her school shirt and tie still, her bare arms showing multiple bruises. "I know what I did was stupid..."

Gakushuu sighed, sitting down on the bed when she pulled her knees up under the covers to make room. "I think terrifying is a better word."

Mitsuko touched her neck and winced when she pressed too hard on a large bruise that had formed. "What time is it?"

"It's 3:30 pm," he answered.

She frowned, rubbing her neck. "Don't you have a council meeting you should—?"

"You almost died and you're seriously asking me _that_?" He fixed her with an incredulous look. "You're my _sister_. Fuck the council meetings!"

Mitsuko nearly choked. "Did you just swear?"

_Was she in some weird purgatory right now?_

_Maybe she had died._

No, the look glare Gakushuu was giving looked too grounded in reality to be anything supernatural or spiritual.

"This isn't funny, Mitsuko." His voice cracked a little. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm sorry," she apologised, smiling sadly. "My head just still feels weird and..." Her stomach churned and her legs tingled unpleasantly. "I can't believe I nearly died..." She reached out and held his hand. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Gakushuu sighed and squeezed her hand, keeping his gaze low. "...You need to stop doing reckless stuff like this."

"I'm not doing it on purpose—"

"It doesn't matter," he interrupted, looking angry. "It doesn't matter if you think you're doing it for a good reason. I can't lose you, and I won't lose you. You're my sister and...and I love you." He cringed at his own words. "And I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I _need_ you, I always have and I'm scared of what's going to happen when you're no longer around!"

Mitsuko stared at him with wide eyes, struggling to speak. "Gakushuu..." There was a lump in her throat and her eyes stung. "It's okay..."

"No, it's not." He grimaced, looking away like was ashamed of admitting it. "You're already pulling away from me...The Principal..." He trailed off, tensing up.

She sat up straighter, growing more concerned. "What about him?" Her brother didn't reply. "Gaku-nii. It's okay, you can tell me."

He didn't say anything for a while, avoiding her gaze. "...He said I was driving you away," his voice was quiet. "He said you were pulling away from me because I was clingy, and I'd never be strong enough to surpass him if I kept relying on you."

Mitsuko felt something in her chest break at that.

He looked vulnerable for maybe the first time in years, and suddenly everything started to make sense, and any doubts she'd had started to fade.

"Gaku-nii..."She took in a deep breath and fought back tears. "Listen to me." She reached forward she placed a hand on his shoulder. "You and I are stronger than he will ever be." She told him shakily. "No matter how things change or how many friends I have, you'll always be my best friend. You're never going to lose that."

"...You're still choosing them over me," he muttered, looking down.

She sighed and then winced when she shifted around to sit up fully on the edge of the bed so her feet were dangling above the floor. " _No_ , I'm not." She held his hand tight. "You're my brother, so I'll always lean on you just like you lean on me, but that doesn't mean we can't rely on other people as well." She stared at him with concern. "I have my friends, who I trust, which is healthy. You need to rely on more people."

Gakushuu looked grim, narrowing his gaze at the floor. "It's easier for you. I'm their leader, I can't have any cracks..."

"Leaders are allowed to rely on others," she told him. "It's alright to trust other people. It doesn't mean we're pulling away from each other, it just means we're..." She tried to find the right word. "We're letting other people in." Her smile was sad. "It can't be _just us_ forever, Gakushuu. One day, we'll have to let go and grow up."

He stayed quiet for a while, gripping her hand tight. "I'm not ready for that yet..."

Mitsuko nodded, understanding. "That's okay." She rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll try to hang on a little longer until we're both ready, but whether I'm in A or E Class, I'll be there for you."

He hummed faintly, keeping hold of her hand.

They settled in a comfortable silence for a while which seemed to calm both of them down for a while.

"Where's mom and dad?" she asked after a while.

Gakushuu scowled. "I left him in the parking lot when mom started shouting at him for the whole city to hear." He sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "Given that the screaming stopped about twenty minutes ago, I assume she's calmed down."

"So the typical story then?" She rolled her eyes, keeping her head comfortably on his shoulder.

"I won't let them send you away," he said firmly, looking down at their entwined hands. "I don't care what he tries to do. I'm not losing you."

She smiled faintly and lifted her head a fraction to look at him. "Thanks. I don't plan on leaving either—"

"AH!"

The two of them both jumped at the sound and looked behind them.

"What the hell?!" Mitsuko yelled.

Okajima's face was smashed against the glass window. "Ugh!"

Gakushuu blinked twice, then three times, gawking. "Is that...?"

Two seconds later, some more familiar faces appeared, climbing up.

Mitsuko let go of his hand and jumped to her feet to open the window. "Guys!" She felt a rush of happiness, opening the window to let them in. "You came!"

Okajima felt flat on his face into the room. "Oh, God...Oh God..."

Then Okano stumbled in, followed by Karma, and then Sugino.

"How are they even climbing that far?!" Gakushuu questioned in alarm. "We're on the third floor!"

Mitsuko chuckled apprehensively. "Uh....Oh, well, you'd be surprised how much climbing that hill to class improves your stamina!"

"Ah, man, those walls are tricky though," Okajima said, dusting himself off.

"Yeah, we nearly fell twice." Okano stood up.

"Only because some of you were rushing," Karma said, shrugging.

"Yeah, and I know for a fact someone farted!" Rio came in followed by the rest of E Class who looked eager to be inside.

"Dude, for the last time, it wasn't me," Maehara replied.

Nagisa frowned when he looked at the bruises on Mitsuko's arm. "We came to check how you were."

Rio rushed forward and hugged Mitsuko. "Yeah, you pretty much scared the living daylights out of us." She pulled back and smile feebly, looking her over. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She nodded, returning the smile. "I'm sorry I worried you guys..."

"Yeah, Koro— Uh..." Fuwa trailed off when she realised Gakushuu was standing right there. "I mean..."

Gakushuu crossed his arms. "This is a hospital, not a circus. You can't just climb in through a window."

"Hey, blame the front desk for not letting us in," Rio argued.

"Yeah, they were like, _it's family only_ ," Muramatsu mimicked, rolling his eyes.

"And we had to check on you to see if you were alright," Toka said, looking worried.

"Yeah, they said you fell from a window..." Isogai grimaced.

Mitsuko tensed, exchanging a look with her brother. "Yeah...it's a long story."

"You're not meant to be here," Gakushuu insisted stubbornly.

"Oh, come on Asano." Rio held Mitsuko's hand—much to her pleasant surprise. "We just want to make sure she's okay."

Sugaya glared at him. "Yeah, especially since you guys have banned us from seeing her."

"Hey, it's alright," Mitsuko stepped in, moving over to her brother. "Gaku-nii, just give me ten minutes with them. They're just worried."

Some of the tension left his shoulders when he looked at her. "If the Principal sees them—"

"Then he sees them. I don't care." She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm not letting him or mom keep me away from my friends," she said firmly. "Go grab a coffee, then we can talk some more after. Alright?"

Her brother's brow knitted briefly, hesitant. "...Fine." He glared at her friends in annoyance, earning some smiles in return. "Ten minutes and that's it. You're still recovering and proper hospital protocol does not permit this many visitors at once."

Rio rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the notice, Asano."

Mitsuko chuckled and smiled at her brother warmly. "I promise it won't be long."

He grumbled something under his breath but then did reluctantly leave, shutting the door behind him.

"Wow, he seems like a joy to live with," Maehara commented dryly.

Mitsuko snorted, sitting down on the bed. "He has his moments." She smiled fondly. "He's just worried."

"I can't blame him for being worried," Sugaya said, frowning. "Ritsu told us how things went down and then Koro-sensei filled in the rest..." He sat down on the bed next to her. "You had us really scared there, Mitsuko."

"Scared being an understatement." Rio sat down on her other side, holding her hand. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, because the whole threatening to jump out a window isn't all that reassuring," Yoshida said awkwardly.

"Yeah!" Ritsu appeared on Fuwa's phone. "When your dad turned me off I was scared." She looked close to tears. "And t-then I saw from the cameras..." She started crying and was cradled by Fuwa.

"Hey, don't cry, Ritsu." Fuwa comforted, holding the phone to her chest."She's okay."

Mitsuko's smile wavered, fidgeting. "I'm sorry..."

"You can talk to us about this kind of stuff," Chiba said quietly.

"I just...I don't know. It seemed like the only way to get him to listen." Mitsuko stared at her hand grasped in Rio's. "I've spent my whole life being scared of him, but for the first time, I didn't care about the consequences..." She sighed. "I don't want him to keep controlling my life or keep you guys away from me."

"Well, we're not gonna let him," Sugaya told her. "He can try all he wants, but he can't keep you away from us."

"Yeah, we'll kidnap you if we have to!" Kurahashi said brightly.

Mitsuko smiled nervously. "Uh, yeah, still not sure about that..."

"The point is, we're here for you no matter what," Takebayashi told her with a small smile.

"I know." She smiled warmly, relaxing a little when she let out a deep breath. "It's still hard getting him out of my head, but I'm trying..."

"So are you coming back?" Nagisa asked cautiously. "Is he going to let you?"

Her smile wavered. "I'm not sure..." Mitsuko sighed. "He signed the form but even I'm not sure that's enough considering the blackmail didn't work."

"Doesn't mean we're giving up," Karma said, sticking his hand in his pockets. "And even if you're not physically in the same class, you're still one of us."

"Exactly." Kataoka nodded, smiling. "If anything, you can be our spy."

Mitsuko laughed. "Oh, really?"

The others looked amused. "Yeah, it'd be perfect, you can sabotage all the plans and feed us information!" Kimura told her.

Terasaka crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. "The nerds won't stand a chance."

Itona nodded, rubbing his chin. "You could also hide some cameras around their classroom..."

She felt her smile grow. "Well, you guys certainly thought this through."

"We had a lot of time to organise some plans," Rio told her, smiling slyly.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Wow, your brother really sticks to those timings," Sugaya commented dryly.

Mitsuko frowned, looking over her shoulder. "Come in!"

When the door opened it wasn't Gakushuu or her mom. Everyone's gazes turned deadly when the Principal opened the door with a coffee in hand.

He barely reacted to seeing them all crowded around her bed, and just sipped his drink. "Mitsuko, might I have a word?"

Rio gritted her teeth and stood on her feet. "Go to hell."

Mitsuko's eyes widened in alarm. "Rio!"

The Principal raised an eyebrow and stepped into the room. "It's a conversation I would like to have in private."

"Yeah, that's not happening." Okano joined Rio, along with the rest of the girls who were standing in front of the hospital bed. "You're not allowed to alone with her."

"Preferably never," Sugaya added, standing up. "Whatever you have to say to her, you can say in front of us."

Mitsuko blushed at how protective they were being. "Guys, it's okay..."

"No, it's not," Isogai said firmly, narrowing his gaze at the Principal. "With all due, respect, sir. We're her friends and we're not leaving her."

"Yep!" Kayano said sweetly—for some reason the Principal's eyes narrowed at her. "Considering your track record, we just don't trust you."

Nagisa frowned. "We're not trying to be disrespectful, sir, but considering the circumstances, we're allowed to be concerned."

Mitsuko tensed while she watched her dad remain silent. "...Whatever you want to say, dad, you can say in front of them."

Her dad's jaw noticeably clenched, but besides that, he kept his expression calm. "I see." He drank some coffee. "Very well." He side-stepped around them towards the window. "I wanted to notify you that you'll be discharged by this evening once you've been given the appropriate checks." Her dad slid the window closed while they all watched him warily. "I have also made a decision."

Mitsuko swallowed thickly, sitting up straighter. "Which is?"

The Principal stared at her for a long time before his gaze shifted to her friends. "Hm. I've decided your mother's restrictions were...excessive."

She nearly scoffed. " _Really?_ "

"Your phone and laptop will be returned to you." He arched his brow. "Though, as I said, so remember to clear your search history."

Mitsuko's cheeks heated up pink. "Very well," she replied stiffly, trying to ignore the amused looked her friends were shooting her. "I will. Thank you."

"I've also decided that, due to your increasing behaviour, lack of responsibility and repeated disrespect." He took a long sip of his drink. "Which have repeatedly disrupted the general school populace, that the most logical solution is to send you back to E Class where you won't pose such—"

"You're sending me back!" She jumped to her feet and nearly barrelled into him. "Are you being serious!?"

The Principal stared at her blankly. "Yes."

Her classmates started to smile.

A giant smile stretched across Mitsuko's face.

"But, of course, there are conditions," he added lightly, making her smile falter a little. "Your mother has imposed a curfew of 8 pm, you will continue to perform in the top ten despite your new low status in comparison to your betters." He drank his coffee for an obnoxiously long time. "I will not tolerate any disrespectful language or behaviour while you are in my house and when you are home, you will be studying and completing any extra test sheets I decide to give you to make sure you are performing adequately."

_Wow, that wasn't a bad deal!_

Mitsuko nodded. "Alright, that's reasonable."

"How is that reasonable?!" Yoshida whispered a little too loud but was quickly shushed by Kataoka.

Her dad's eyes stayed narrowed at her. "There will also be no further reckless behaviour, and if you express or show any signs of trying to harm yourself, or if you fail to meet these conditions, then I will transfer you to another school," her dad told her in a clipped tone. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Mitsuko replied, feeling a burst of happiness. "I understand."

He watched her warily for a moment. "Hm." Then his gaze turned to her friends. "As for the rest of you, your numbers exceed the recommended capacity for visitors in one room via hospital protocol. Please kindly vacate before I am forced to call your parents or suspend you for anti-social behaviour." He finished drinking his coffee and then tossed it in the bin as he walked back over to the door. "You have two minutes."

Mitsuko's smile grew when he left the room. "Well—"

Before she could even breathe she was tackled by Rio, Sugaya, and Nagisa into a hug while the rest swarmed around like a protective cocoon. 


	35. Just the three of us

Mitsuko neatened her tie while she stared in the bedroom mirror, taking a deep breath when she finished dressing for school.

She frowned when she looked at the dark bruise on her neck, tracing it with her hand.

“You okay?” Ritsu popped up on her laptop screen, holding a bowl of marshmallow cereal in her hand.

“Yeah.” She covered the bruise with her hair and tried to shrug her nerves off. “It’s just weird I guess.”

Ritsu smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay to feel a little weird still.”

Mitsuko hummed, tugging at the ends of her hair. “Did you return those assets like my dad ordered?”

Ritsu scowled briefly but nodded. “Yes.” Then her lips quirked upwards into a smile. “Well, most of them. An assassin should always have some blackmail material on hand.”

Mitsuko snorted in amusement. “Right, of course.” She stared at her reflection one last time. “Right.” She grinned and pocketed her green knife. “Let’s go face the day and try to kill an octopus.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ritsu grinned, munching on her cereal.

When Mitsuko went down for breakfast, things seemed…strangely calm. Gakushuu and her dad were sat down in their usual places and her mom was making breakfast.

“Morning…” She sat down in her normal spot.

“Morning.” Gakushuu hesitantly glanced at their parents briefly.

“Good morning.” Mom’s voice was tight, dishing her breakfast on the plate; it seemed a larger portion than usual.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow at the large helping.

“I was thinking…” Mom looked at her and then Gakushuu. “How about I give you two a ride to school today?”

Mitsuko and her brother paused, staring at their mother in confusion.

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. “…Why?”

Mom gave a strained smile, looking tired; the dark circles under her eyes more pronounces against her pale skin. “Well, it’d save you a trip to the station, and besides, you’d get their earlier.”

The two of them continued to stare at her blankly.

“Children.” Their dad folded his paper. “Your mother is expecting a verbal response.”

Mitsuko and Gakushuu exchanged wary looks.

“Uh…okay,” Mitsuko replied, shrugging. “Thanks, mom.”

“Yes, thank you,” Gakushuu replied stiffly.

Mom smiled widely. “Perfect.” Then she turned back to the washing up in the sink.

Mitsuko glanced at the Principal but he seemed to ignore them now and was eating his breakfast.

* * *

Mitsuko felt weird being in the backseat of mom’s car with Gakushuu, it reminded her of Primary school.

That and the car ride was extremely awkward.

Mom cleared her throat and looked at them through the wind mirror. “So…” She smiled at them. “How is….how is school?”

Mitsuko and Gakushuu shared a long-suffering look.

“It’s fine,” he replied lightly.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Mitsuko said, leaning against the window to look outside.

“That’s great.” Mom’s smile was tight. “…You know. I know it can be tough having your Principal being your dad, but you two are doing such a good job.”

Her brother raised an eyebrow and shot Mitsuko a look as if something was wrong with their mom.

“…Thanks, mom,” Mitsuko replied dully, giving her brother a shrug.

Mom’s smile kept cracking when she looked at them in the wind mirror. “You know…” She shifted a bit in her seat, coming to a stop at a red light. “I was thinking maybe we could all take a break during winter…just the three of us?”

Mitsuko tensed, looking up in surprise. “Wait, what?” She looked at her brother to see if she’d misheard but he just looked just as confused. “A break, where?”

“Oh, I don’t know, anywhere…” Mom replied a little too cheerfully. “Just to get away from everything for a while…”

“…Why would it just be the three of us?” Gakushuu asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, your father hardly ever wants to take a break so…” Mom trailed off, her voice cracking. “I don’t know…I thought maybe, maybe we c-could…”

Then to their terror, she burst out crying.

“Mom?” Mitsuko stared at her in alarm.

Gakushuu looked like he’d have a heart attack. “Why are you crying? You’re blocking traffic?!”

Mitsuko punched his arm “Gakushuu!”

He winced, rubbing his arm while their mom sobbed. “What? It’s dangerous.” He looked over at their mom. “Mom, pullover. You’re going to cause an accident.”

The cars behind them were honking loudly.

Mom buried her face in the steering wheel and just cried harder.

Mitsuko grimaced. “Hey, mom, it’s okay…don’t cry.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached out to rub her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“N-no, it’s not!” Mom sobbed. “I failed!”

“For goodness sake…” Gakushuu sighed, earning a glare from Mitsuko. “What?”

Mitsuko shook her head and crouched behind her mom’s seat while the cars angrily passed them.

“Mom, you haven’t failed…”

“Yes, I have!” Mom snapped, lifting her face to real puffy eyes and snot dribbling from her nose. “If I wasn’t such a failure you’d both be normal!” She covered her face with her hands. “If I was a better mother you wouldn’t like girls and wouldn’t try to hurt yourself.”

“Mom…” Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. “That’s not how it works.”

“You nearly died! And then the alcohol…” Mom choked on her sobs. “You all hate me!”

“No we don’t…” Mitsuko reassured. “We love you.” She kicked her brother’s leg. “Right, Gakushuu?”

Her brother winced and clutched his leg. “Yes!” he ground out, glaring at his sister. “We don’t hate you.” He frowned when he looked at his mother; his glare softened, letting out a deep sigh. “Why don’t you calm down, mom…?”

“Yeah, it’s alright.” Mitsuko rubbed her arm. “Did dad say something to set you off?”

“No…” Mom wiped her face with her hands, smearing the make-up some more. “And I feel bad for shouting at him…”

“Why?” Gakushuu said dryly, earning another kick from his sister. “Ow!”

“Because he seemed so upset seeing you in hospital,” Mom said. “And I always lose my temper at him…”

Mitsuko frowned. “Dad was upset?”

“He can be infuriating sometimes.” Mom sniffled, looking down. “But he always cleans up after my messes, and if I had been a better mother, you two wouldn’t be so…”

Mitsuko frowned, exchanging a look with her brother. “Um…”

Mom took a handkerchief from the glove compartment and blew her nose into it. “He’s changed so much…” She wiped her eyes. “And I love him so much, and I’m so lucky to have him, but…” She murmured, keeping her gaze low. “Sometimes, I wish it was just the three of us…”

Mitsuko felt something twist in her stomach. “Mom…”

“…You don’t have to stay with him.” Gakushuu’s voice was quiet, moving out of his seat to lean on the passenger seat.

Mom looked up in alarm. “What?” She frowned. “No, no, I love your father, I could never do that.” Then she sighed. “I just wish things were different…”

Gakushuu’s eyes narrowed a fraction with the faintest signs of disappointment.

Mitsuko sighed, squeezing her mom’s shoulder. “It’s okay…maybe we could take a trip together, just the three of us. I’m sure dad wouldn’t mind.”

Her brother scoffed. “Doubtful.”

Mitsuko glared at him. “Gakushuu…”

Her brother raised an eyebrow, but then heaved a sigh when he looked back at their mother. “...I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if it was just the weekend…”

Mitsuko smiled, nodding. “Exactly!” She looked at her mom encouragingly. “We can take a break, just the three of us.”

Their mom sniffled, nodding as she wiped her eyes. “I’ve always wanted to visit Mount Koya…”

“Then we can go there for a weekend,” Mitsuko told her warmly.

That seemed to calm her down some more, the tears drying up. “Okay…” She looked away in shame, heat rising to her cheeks. “Don’t…don’t tell your father about _this._ It would just make him worry.”

“We won’t,” Gakushuu replied quietly, looking uncomfortable.

Mitsuko nodded, feeling uneasy. “Yeah, we won’t tell him.”

“I’m fine really,” Mom told them unconvincingly. “I’m just tired and it’s been such a stressful month…”

“It’s okay,” Mitsuko replied softly. “We understand…”

Mom hummed, wiping the last of the tears away. “I’m sorry.”

Gakushuu sighed. “It’s fine…”

Mitsuko nodded. “Yeah.” She smiled at her mom, pulling her hand away. “It’s fine.”

Mom nodded, sitting up straighter. “You’re going to be late.” She stared at the clock worriedly and started the car again.

“We’ll still make it on time.” Mitsuko sat back down and watched her in concern. “Don’t worry.”

* * *

Mitsuko dragged her feet a bit on the way to the Old Campus, still thinking of her mom, wondering if she would be alright on her own all day.

“Mitsuko!” Kurahashi’s bright voice distracted her.

She looked over her shoulder and was promptly tackled by Kurahashi who wrapped her hands around her. “HEY!!”

The girl smiled brightly. “You’re finally back!”

Yada, Rio, and Kataoka followed after, looking please to see her.

“We were worried your dad would have changed his mind,” Kataoka smiled fondly. “Glad you’re finally back.”

Mitsuko smiled. “Glad to be back.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Hope I didn’t miss much?”

Yada grinned. “Well, you did miss out on pudding.”

“But you got a lucky break avoiding the whole underwear thief ordeal,” Kataoka told her, smiling grimly.

Kurahashi cringed. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”

Mitsuko smiled fondly. “Looks like I have a lot to catch up on.”

“Damn right you do.” Rio smiled warmly, nudging her. “You feeling okay?” She asked, glancing at the bruise on her neck.

“Yeah.” Mitsuko’s smile shook, moving her hair to cover it. “I’m doing okay.”

“Just make sure to take it easy, okay?” Kataoka cautioned.

“I will.” Mitsuko’s smile grew when Rio linked arms with her. “Though you might have to carry me if I feel faint.”

Rio rolled her eyes. “I’ll push you down the mountain when that happens.”

She laughed, walking with her up the rest of the mountain. 


	36. You're a pervert too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay folks, since the last few chapters have been emotionally heavy and borderline depressing. Let's have a nice break with some light-hearted shenanigans before stuff really starts to hit again. 

“What’s with the tank?” Mitsuko frowned when she saw the boys huddled around Itona who had a model tank on his desk.

“AH!” Okajima and a few others reeled back in alarm.

They all shifted to cover the desk, causing her eyes to narrow.

“M-Mitsuko! You’re early!” Sugaya gave a nervous laugh.

She scrutinised them. “Yeah, kind of happens when you have a neurotic brother obsessed on perfect attendance,” she replied dryly, circling them to see what they were doing. “What are you guys up to?!”

Nagisa went bright red. “Uh…”

Isogai was sweating. “Um...”

Mitsuko scowled, looking at Takebayashi who was next to a desk which had some suspiciously high-tech cameras. “What’s this?”

“It’s an assassination plot!” Maehara said quickly, standing in front of her.

She raised an eyebrow. “Really?” She picked up the small camera. “Is this a fisheye lens?!”

“Uh…”

The boys were pale as ghosts.

“That’s it!” She marched forward and shoved them away. “Move!”

“W-wait, No!” Okajima tried to block her, but she pushed him to the side.

She grabbed the tank and lifted it to inspect. “If this is for assassination then it’s a pretty shitty plot!”

“Hey, be careful!” Sugaya cried. “I spent hours painting that!”

Mitsuko positioned it on her knee, ready to break it in half. “Then tell me the truth, you little pervs!” She raised it to smash it.

“NO!!” They cried, reaching out.

“WE’RE USING IT TO LOOK UP GIRL SKIRTS!!” Okajima wailed and then sobbed. “It was too hard to resist…”

“You all suck at keeping it together,” Itona remarked dryly, shaking his head.

“I knew it!” She glared at them. “Seriously, what is wrong with you guys?!”

“We’re men! We have needs!” Okajima sobbed.

“Yeah, I need for a kick up the ass,” Mitsuko shot back. “I’m telling Karasuma—HEY!!”

Terasaka grabbed her from behind. “Like hell you are!”

“LET ME GO!!” Mitsuko screeched, but Muramatsu and Yoshida joined, pinning her down in a chair. “I’ll kill you little pervs!” She kicked Yoshida in the face. “Get off!”

“Ow!” Yoshida clutched his nose.

“Guys!!” Isogai tried to intervene but was pushed back by Mimura and Maehara

“We can’t let her ruin the plan!” Mimura yelled.

“I think this is going too far!” Nagisa objected.

Mitsuko swore at them as she was tied down in the chair. “You can’t keep me here forever!”

The boys huddled together in a circle. 

“She’s right…” Takebayashi sighed grimly.

“We could ransom her off,” Maehara suggested, peaking over his shoulder to glance at her. 

“Why would we do that?!” Nagisa cried in alarm.

Itona shrugged. “Her dad’s rich, we could use the money to buy more gear.”

“But she’ll rat us out in a second if we let her go,” Kimura whispered.

Sugaya looked remorseful. “No doubt about it...” Then his brow furrowed. “Unless…”

Mitsuko started to sweat when she saw them all exchange knowing looks. “Why are you guys giving each other weird looks—cut it out!!”

Okajima rubbed his chin and started to smile. “I know just her type!”

She tensed. “W-what?!”

In a second the room suddenly turned dark as a bright torchlight in her face.

“You have two options, Mitsuko.” Okajima’s voice was suddenly deep. “You can fight against it…or you can embrace it.”

“Why are you talking about?” she shouted at them, wincing when the light hit her eyes. “And get that stupid thing away from my face, it hurts!”

“Oh, sorry!” Sugaya apologised sheepishly, moving the light away.

“Thanks.” She glared at them. “Now what are you talking about? You can either let me go now before I kick all your asses, or you can wait until after I escape and murder you all.”

“Tempting options…” Takebayashi adjusted his glasses. “But not as tempting as….” He presented a colourful dirty magazine in her face. “ _This!_ ”

She jerked back in surprise. “What the…? Get that out of my face!”

Okajima sniggered, opening the magazine up to reveal lewder images. “Behold its glory. A fresh batch, completely untouched.”

Her cheeks heated up. “You’re disgusting.” She looked away. “Get that away from me!”

“You only just got your computer back, right?” Takebayashi said deviously. “That’s a lot of time not—“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” Mitsuko snapped, growing pinker.

“Trust me, this is better than digital,” Okajima said, grinning. “The turn of pages, the glossy texture—it’s a whole other experience.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Ew…”

Maehara smirked. “And all can be yours for the small price of your cooperation.”

“Are you kidding me?” Mitsuko avoided looking at the magazine to glare at them.

Yoshida turned her head, forcing her to look at the magazine. “Oh, come on. You sure?”

“Yeah.” Okajima’s smile was sly. “I bet you’re just as much as a pervert like the rest of us.”

Mitsuko tensed, shifting in the seat when she had to look at the images. “Stop it!!”

“Come on, Mitsuko! Give in!” Okajima teased, bringing the images closer.

“No!” She tried to close her eyes.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Muramatsu forced her eyes open.

“Ugh!” She crossed her legs tight as the dirty images did their damage. “S-stop it, you creep!”

“Come on, Mitsuko, are you telling us you aren’t at least tempted to look up girls’ skirts?” Maehara whispered in her ear.

“SHUT UP!!”

Okajima flicked the page to the sports section, chipping away at her resolve like a hacksaw.

_Shit._

He turned the page to the swimsuit section, uncensored.

* * *

Mitsuko flipped through the dirty magazine while the boys were gathered around Itona holding the controller.

Holy shit this was good stuff!

Her eyes widened when she turned the magazine side-ways. “No wonder the octopus is hooked!”

Then for some reason, the boys started screaming, making her jump.

“What the hell is wrong with you weirdos!” she snapped at them.

“IT’S A MONSTER!!”

They all backed away from the screen they were looking at.

She stared at them in confusion as they stumbled over themselves like idiots.

Then after a moment or two, she shook her head and turned to the next page of the magazine.

* * *

Bitch-sensei couldn’t stop laughing when she’d told her what had happened.

Mitsuko grinned, spinning around a bit in the chair while the two of them were in the teacher’s lounge during lunch.

“Oh, man…” Bitch-sensei wiped a tear from her eye. “Those little dweebs.”

“Yeah, you should have seen them after Kataoka dished out on them.” Mitsuko laughed. “I thought Isogai would wet his pants!” Her smile was sly. “They were too busy lecturing them to even notice me.”

Bitch-sensei smirked, leaning back in her seat. “Good.” She sipped her latte. “Always remain above suspicion and play into people’s assumptions.”

Mitsuko smirked, sipping her hot chocolate. “Notes.” She stared into her cup and smiled. “I’m thinking of asking Rio out on a date again…”

“Really?” The teacher raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” She blushed faintly, smiling. “I don’t want to come on too strong so I was thinking something casual, like just going to a café.” She fiddled with the cup handle. “What do you think?”

Bitch-sensei sipped her latte and shrugged. “It’s a good idea.” She raised an eyebrow. “And afterwards?”

“Oh, well there’s my curfew so…” Mitsuko shrugged, rubbing back of her neck. “Plus my mom will freak out if I’m gone too long.” She sighed. “When she’s off alcohol she’s like an emotional clingy wreck…”

“Classic case of a frustrated housewife with an asshole husband.” Bitch-sensei scoffed. “I’d drink if I was stuck with your father.”

Mitsuko hummed, staring into her hot chocolate. “She wants to take a break from him, with just Gakushuu and me.” She sipped her drink. “It might be good for her, you know, to get away for a while.”

Bitch-sensei gave her a shrewd look. “Or you’ll end up screaming at each other.”

“Well, yeah, that too…” Mitsuko rested her hand in her palm, leaning on the desk. “I’m just worried about her.” Her stomach twisted from guilt. “And if I hadn’t gotten drunk that night dad wouldn’t have cleared the alcohol from the house and she wouldn’t be so—“

“Hey.” Bitch-sensei reached out and gently touched her hand. “I’m going to need to stop you there, kid.” Her brow furrowed, setting her cup down. “Don’t start blaming yourself for things that aren’t your fault,” she said firmly. “Your mom has her own baggage she has to sort out.” She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “And you’ve got enough on your plate on top of worrying about her.”

Mitsuko grimaced. “I guess so…”

“Hey!” Fuwa came skidding down the hallway, interrupting them. “Guys, Koro-sensei has a cool idea!”

Bitch-sensei leaned back, picking up her cup. “If it’s related to another gross bikini fantasy like last time, then count me out.”

Bothe Mitsuko and Fuwa stared at her in confusion.

“Uh, what?” Fuwa shook her head quickly. “No, it’s not that.” She grinned. “Come on, we’re picking codenames!”

Mitsuko looked over her shoulder. “Codenames?”

* * *

In less than two hours, and after not being given a real explanation other than ‘it’s a lesson for Kimura!’ by the overgrown man-child which was their teacher, Mitsuko found herself hiding in the bushes with Rio and Nagisa.

Mitsuko tugged at the shorts of their new training gear while she kept her gun close. “Uh, so who’s idea was this again?”

Rio grinned. “It was kind of a group effort.”

“Bitch-in-training, do you copy?” Sugaya’s voice came over the radio.

Mitsuko’s eye twitched. “Yes.” She heaved a sigh. “I copy, Lanky-artist.”

“Any movement from Da Densest?”

“That’s a negative.” Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at the bushed. “Gender and English Lass are in position. Over.”

“Copy.”

Mitsuko turned back to Rio was smiling even more now. “Remind me to find and murder the asshole who picked my codename.”

“Well, it wasn’t me.” Rio laughed, raising her hands innocently. “Hey, I was the one who put ‘ _Notice me Senpai’_ in there.”

Mitsuko threw her walkie talkie at her, hitting her in the stomach, but it just made Rio cackle more.

“You’re impossible,” Mitsuko said, moving closer to the tree to get a better look.

“It would have been funny,” Rio teased, nudging her. “You know it would have.”

She rolled her eyes, fighting back a smile. “Whatever…” She glanced at Rio from the corner of her eye. “I was going to ask you something after lunch before all of this.” Her fingers picked at the bark of the tree. “Nothing serious or anything…”

“Oh, okay.” Rio leaned against the tree, arching an eyebrow. “Well, ask away.”

Mitsuko smiled faintly. “Um, do you want to go grab a coffee after school on Friday? I know this nice little place in the city we could go to…”

Rio stared at her for a moment, and for a horrible while she thought she’d made a mistake. “Yeah, okay.” She smiled warmly. “It sounds cute.”

Her cheeks heated up at that, relaxing. “Thanks.”

“Gender, do you copy?” Okano’s voice came from the radio.

Nagisa picked up the radio from where he was crouched on the floor. “Copy.”

“Da Densest is on the move. Move out!”

“Copy. We’re heading out.” He jumped up and started to run down the hill.

“Showtime!” Rio grinned, running after. “Don’t trip!”

Mitsuko smirked and jumped over a fallen tree log. “I’m not the one struggling to keep up!” She caught up to Nagisa, grinning when she looked over her shoulder and saw Rio scowling at her. “Come on!”

Rio caught up quickly and was running alongside her. “You were saying?”

“Took you long enough.”

Rio shoved her hard enough that she nearly ran into Nagisa.

“Guys!” Nagisa cautioned, sighing.

Mitsuko was too busy laughing, nearly pushing Rio into a tree.

* * *

Mitsuko hopped over a rock as she and Sugaya made their way down the mountain. “I swear it’s either Karma or Terasaka who gave me that codename.” She huffed, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll bash their heads in for it.”

Sugaya chuckled. “For all you know it could have been Kurahashi—she has a dark side, you know.”

She rolled her eyes. “Bitch-In-training doesn’t really fit her humour.”

The two of them stepped onto the pavement to the main road. “I’m just saying, it’s better than some of the others,” he said, adjusting his bag. “You might have gotten off lightly.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not getting revenge.” Mitsuko sighed, looking down the street where she could see her brother waiting by a lamp post. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sugaya nodded. “See you later.”

Mitsuko smiled and waved him goodbye as she walked over to Gakushuu. “Hey!” She smiled brightly, skipping a little towards him. “So how is Class A surviving without me?”

Gakushuu looked up with a frown, the distant look on his face made her pause. “They’re fine,” his voice was tight.

Her brow creased. “Okay…” She tilted her head a fraction. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat, straightening up. “I’ve just been studying a lot.” He gave her a small smile. “We can’t slack off with midterms around the corner.”

She smiled hesitantly, nodding. “Nope,” she replied, walking alongside him. “Hopefully Class A is ready for us!”

Her brother scoffed, adjusting his bag. “If your delinquent friends think they can beat us again, then they’re living in a fantasy world.” His gaze narrowed. “We won’t be beaten again.”

Mitsuko smirked. “We’ll see.”

“Yes, well.” His gaze was somewhat cold. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She punched his arm.“Ow!”

She huffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she walked ahead “Don’t be so ominous, it’s weird.”


	37. We should take a break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, I'm winning at this Quarantine thing XD 

**A/N: Wow, I'm winning at this Quarantine thing XD**

Rio smiled when she looked around the café. "Wow, you were right, this is a cute place."

Mitsuko smiled at that, the two of them sat by the window of the small café in the city. "I found out about it online." She sipped her soup. "Thanks for agreeing to come by the way..."

"No problem." Rio smiled, gulping down some of her tea. "The food and drinks are great." She let out a satisfied sigh after she took another sip. "Next week I'll show you this fast food place that just opened." She grinned. "Imagine American burgers, but with a twist!"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "It's not going to be like that place that did the chocolate covered bacon is it?" She wrinkled her nose. "Because that was just gross..."

Rio laughed. "Hey, you need to embrace it to enjoy it!" She twisted some noodles around her fork. "As soon as I get the chance to visit the States again, I'm grabbing the biggest burger they have." She winked. "The fattier the better!"

"And you'll be back with diabetes," Mitsuko replied dryly.

Rio shrugged. "It'll be worth it." She drank some more tea. "So, how have you been." She was trying to sound casual about it. "Everything okay at home?"

"Well...." Mitsuko sighed, leaning back in her chair. "My mom is...being more stressed than usual."

Rio's brow furrowed. "Is it bad?"

She shrugged, sipping her own drink. "She just needs a break from my dad. I've already been looking at hotels but Gakushuu is still being stubborn about it." Her lips twisted into a scowl. "He keeps saying he's too busy, but mom really needs this break."

"Have you tried kicking him up the ass?" Rio asked casually. "It might persuade him."

Mitsuko chuckled. "Uh, I don't think so." She sighed. "I'm hoping he'll come around soon. I think he's just stressed because of the Principal." She looked down. "I still feel guilty for leaving him all alone...he's a lot more vulnerable than people realise."

Rio didn't seem to believe this. "Or he's also a lot more self-absorbed than you realise?"

"Don't say that." Mitsuko brow furrowed, feeling annoyed. "He's my brother, I know him better than anyone," she said firmly. "He might be a jerk and he is selfish at times, but he's a good person when it comes down to it."

Rio sighed, leaning on the table. "Look, I know Gakushuu isn't as bad as he likes to make people think, but you have to admit he has a lot of issues he's not willing to admit," she reasoned. "He can't just treat people like garbage and he needs to get off his high-horse and stop thinking he's better than everyone."

"I'm not sure he's getting off that horse anytime soon..." Mitsuko replied grimly, finishing her drink. "I'm trying to get him to realise our dad's wrong, but it's like trying to move a mountain—he's so stubborn."

"So were you but you came around," Rio told her, smiling in amusement.

The corner of her lips quirked up. "Yeah, well I had all of you guys knocking some sense into me." She shrugged. "Plus, I think you underestimate just how annoying Koro-sensei's stalking is. That as his fake degrees."

Rio laughed. "Oh, yeah, did he tell you about that online university thing as well?"

"He wouldn't shut up about it," Mitsuko replied, huffing. "I guess even with the fake qualifications, he's still a good teacher..."

Rio raised her cup at that. "The best we'll ever have." She winked. "Too bad we have to kill the poor sucker."

Mitsuko frowned, feeling a small bit of apprehension. "Yeah..."

Just then both their phones started buzzing.

"Hey, Ritsu," Rio pulled out her phone to greet their classmate.

Mitsuko smiled at her phone. "What's up?"

Ritsu appeared on-screen holding a giant sign with an exclamation point on it. "You'll never guess what happened!!"

Both Rio and Mitsuko shared a glance before looking back down.

"Uh, okay, what is it?" Mitsuko asked.

Ritsu tossed the sign away and pushed the screen close to her face. "Asano challenged Isogai to a Pole-toppling tournament and if we fail Isogai will get expelled!!"

"Wait, what?!" Mitsuko jumped to her feet, gaining the attention of the other cafe dwellers. "Start from the beginning."

"Okay, so Isogai has been working at a café after school to earn extra money," Ritsu explained quickly. "And he already got sent down to E Class for doing it last year—so Asano says he'll only keep quiet about it if E Class takes up the pole-toppling challenge and wins otherwise Isogai will be out of school and end up on the streets a-and ohmygoodnessit'stoohorribletothinkabout!!"

"Whoa, Ritsu, calm down," Mitsuko said, frowning. "It's okay, Isogai isn't going to end up on the streets. Just stay calm, everything is going to be fine."

Ritsu took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a bit. "Sorry..."

Rio stood next to her and crossed her arms. "Still think he doesn't need a kick up the ass?"

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. "I may have spoken too soon..."

* * *

"I mean, _pole-toppling_ of all things?" Mitsuko complained, pacing around in her brother's room while he sat by his desk and watched her with disinterest. "And what has Isogai ever even done to you? He doesn't deserve this!"

"I don't have anything _personal_ against him," Gakushuu replied evenly, steepling his fingers together. "He's merely a weak link which I've exposed."

She scoffed, stopping to glare at him. "He's a _human being_ who has a family to take care of!" She crossed her arms. "I already told you not to involve other people in you and dad's pissing contests."

"It's not just about that." Gakushuu glared back at her, standing up. "I already warned you that A-Class would not be beaten again, and I stand by it. This is a reckoning for finals."

"This is fucking ridiculous, that's what it is," she hissed. "You're just doing this for the same reasons as before—because you want dad to notice you, but for what? You're just doing exactly what he wants. The only person who wins is him, Gakushuu."

His glare wavered briefly, but it still stubbornly stayed after some hesitation. "I know what I'm doing."

"No you don't," Mitsuko snapped, growing more frustrated. "And it's going to blow up in your face just like all the other times." Her gaze grew pleading. "You need to stop doing this, please." She grabbed his arm so he'd look at her. "I've already told you, you're stronger than him. You don't need to this, you don't need to keep trying to be him—"

"I'm not trying to be him." He pulled away from her.

She took a deep breath. "But you're doing exactly what he wants—that's what he does, remember?" She took a step closer. "He makes us feel like failures for we listen to him and buy into his whole philosophy."

"I..." He was faltering at that, but his gaze still stayed narrowed. "I am Class A's leader, and I will not have my position threatened by a class of Neanderthals who think one lucky break put them above their betters."

Mitsuko felt like kicking him, but not much good would come from that. Instead, she took a deep breath and calmed down. "I told Rio you were a good person," she said. His shoulders tensed, frowning. "That's what I've always told people, and even after everything I still keep thinking it's true...but then you keep doing stuff like this and gets harder to keep defending you."

"...I don't need you to defend me," he muttered, looking away uneasily.

"It's hard not to when they keep comparing you to the Principal," she replied quietly.

A grim look cast over his face. "I don't care what they think."

"But you do care what _I_ think." She folded her arms. "And right now I don't like the type of person you're turning into..."

Gakushuu's eyes widened a little, but then his expression grew closed off. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I can't back down now."

"You keep saying that, but you always have a choice," Mitsuko said sadly.

Her brother ran a hand over his face, looking tired. "I'm not going to change my mind, Mitsuko," he told her sternly. "I've already made arrangements. The contest is going ahead, and if you're so confident in your friends, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

Her eyes narrowed at that. "Don't be a prick," she chided, frowning. "I'm going to stand with them because it's what's right." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I love you, but I can't support you winning if it means Isogai suffers."

To her relief, he didn't pull away from her. "Well, I can't force you to..." His expression was resigned.

"No, you can't." She sighed and squeezed his shoulder. "May the best class win."

* * *

When the morning of the Pole-topping contest finally came, Mitsuko felt an overwhelming dread which wouldn't go away.

She watched her mom give her brother an extra helping of food for breakfast.

"Thank you," Gakushuu said dully, stabbing his fork into his scrambled eggs.

"Well, good luck for today." Mom smiled encouragingly. "I'm sure it'll go well."

Her brother hummed quietly, stuffing some eggs into his mouth.

"Well, it'll certainly be exciting," dad said pleasantly, drinking his coffee. "Gathering all your pen-pals from across the globe has added quite the entertainment."

Mitsuko glared at him, eating some of her breakfast to stop her sayings something she'd regret.

"Good luck for today," she said softly, making him frown. "I know you'll give it your all like usual."

Gakushuu stared at her warily. "...Thank you." He poked at his eggs. "I'm sure E Class will try their best."

"I'm sure both classes will put on a good contest," their father interjected, staring at them both intently. "It will be interesting to watch."

Gakushuu gripped his fork tight, staring down at his plate. "Yes, I'm sure it will be."

* * *

Mitsuko sighed, standing with the rest of her class while they waited by the field.

Koro-sensei was in his usual disguise, with a camera in hand and was saying something to Isogai.

Isogai blushed and sighed. "Alright, guys! Let's go into this guns blazing—like always!"

"Yeah!" the Class-E boys cheered.

Mitsuko looked over at her brother who was giving last-minute orders to his classmates. "Sugaya." She looked over at the violet haired boy. "Be careful, okay."

Sugaya smiled reassuringly. "Hey, don't worry, I'll be fine."

She made a doubtful noise. "Right..." She sighed. "I'm just worried about—"

"MITSUKO!"

She jumped when a loud and very familiar American accent hit her ears and all those around her.

_Oh, great..._

Before she knew it a pair of heavily muscled arms wrapped around her and picked her up off the ground. "AH!!"

"Where have you been hiding!?" Kevin's laugh rumbled in his chest as he lifted her like she was a toddler. "You haven't called in months!"

Her face lit up bright red in embarrassment. "Kevin, put me down!"

"What the hell?!" Sugaya and her classmates looked shocked.

_Kill me now._

She shut her eyes tight. "KEVIN, PUT ME DOWN!!"

"Oh, sorry." Kevin laughed and dropped her back on her feet. "It's just you're so _small._ " He looked much bigger than the last time she'd seen him, but his face was the same and his blond hair was just as bright. "I thought you would have hit a growth-spurt by now."

"I'm not that short, 5'2" is an acceptable height!" she snapped at him in English, cheeks flaming from humiliation. "You're just an overgrown ape!"

"Ouch, why are you so mean still?" Camille spoke in English with the faint traces of his French accent still there, ruffling her hair with his beefy hand.

She whacked his hand away. "Why are you still braindead!?"

Sang and Jose came over as well, laughing like the idiots they were.

"Wow, you Japanese girls really are small," Jose teased, chuckling.

"Shut up!" Mitsuko yelled at him. "You're all impossible and I hope your planes crash on the way back home."

Kevin chuckled, resting his elbow on her head. "Hey, at least you look like a teenager now, I thought you were seven two years ago."

Mitsuko glared at him. "And you look thirty!" She crossed her arms. "Seriously, are you taking steroids or are you on a meat-only diet." She punched him in the stomach; it was rock hard. "That's not human."

He barked out a laugh, patting her on the head. "Aw, you're so funny still."

"Uh, Mitsuko..."

She looked over her shoulder where her classmates were staring in confusion.

"So, these guys are...?" Sugaya asked slowly.

"Kevin!" Gakushuu's voice gained all their attention. "What are you doing!?" His hands were on his hips, standing with the rest of Class A. "Get over here now!"

"Uh, oh, looks like the bitch is calling," Karma commented, earning a glare from Mitsuko.

Kevin gave a nervous chuckle. "Heh. We better go."

"Yeah, your brother's scary when he's angry," Sang said, patting her on the head as he walked by.

"We'll catch up later, Mitsuko," Jose told her as he walked across the field.

Kevin gave her one last pat on the head. "Remember to cheer us on and we might not completely crush your classmates."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. " _Wow_ , thanks, Kevin."

"Now for an exhibition match!" commentator, Araki, announced from the 'Broadcast Booth'. "Seems the E-Class has challenged the A-Class to a battle!"

"Wait, how are those guys allowed to join!?" Sugino gaped, pointing at them in disbelief.

"Okay, Kunugigaoka's elite—give 'em hell!"

"That's gotta be against the rules!" Okajima cried.

"Are they even fifteen?" Sugaya questioned.

"Yes, they are," Mitsuko replied, sighing. "They're a lot bigger than I remember though..."

"Asano has pulled out all the stops with this one," Rio commented, crossing her arms.

Isogai grimaced. "Any advice on beating them?"

Mitsuko shrugged. "Well, they're a bunch of meat-heads so I wouldn't expect much in the brains department."

Karma hummed, smirking. "I think we can work with that."

Rio patted him on the back. "Good luck."

Kimura gulped, following the boys into the field. "We're gonna need it!"

"Just follow the plan and you'll be fine," Kataoka encouraged as the boys all filed out.

Mitsuko let out a deep breath. "I hope they don't get hurt."

"They'll be okay." Rio smiled reassuringly. "They've got enough hard heads between them to take a few hits."

Mitsuko nodded, smiling faintly. "True..." She gripped the railing tight as the game played out.

So far it looked like Gakushuu had the advantage with numbers, and the strength of Kevin and the others was an added advantage, but they might be able to outmanoeuvre them if Isogai's plan worked.

Mitsuko gripped Rio's hand without thinking, but the other girl didn't pull away.

Koro-sensei didn't very concerned and even laughed at times. "I wouldn't worry girls," he said when he noticed how tense Mitsuko was. "Isogai has a very thorough strategy at play."

She exchanged a look with Rio before staring back at the field.

"Okay, guys—now!" Isogai commanded. "Operation: Tentacles!"

The front row sprung into the air, then crashed down on the attackers.

Itona leapt to the top of the pole and grabbed on.

"Pin 'em down!" Isogai shouted and the pole was pushed down to an angle, keeping the attackers in place and giving Nagisa something to lounge on.

"The E-Class comes together with the weight of the pole!" Araki commentated. "Now this is intense! They're playing dirty!"

Mitsuko started to smile. "Finally!"

"Oh! They've chased after the E-Class and are back on the defensive!" Araki announced.

"An offensive fake-out?!" Okajima exclaimed whilst running.

Isogai and the others stopped as they were surrounded.

Koro-sensei was giggling.

"Should you please not laugh at a time like this!" Mitsuko snapped.

"Heh. My apologies." Koro-sensei still was giggling though.

"What should we do?" Karasuma asked Koro-sensei. "The Defence Ministry would rather no one get injured."

Koro-sensei laughed again. "It's alright. I gave him some tips on our social studies work."

"Which means?" Mitsuko asked impatiently.

"It means we have to try the untraditional," Koro-sensei replied brightly.

"Untraditional?" Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "But the plan Isogai relayed sounded pretty straight forward."

Koro-sensei grinned wickedly. "Yes, well we did alternative strategies in case Asano-kun tried to play unfair."

"Whatever it is, Karma seemed excited about it," Rio said, smirking.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "That's concerning...."

And, true to behold the plan that followed was anything but traditional.

Araki was more or less yelling down the mic as Class E moved into the side-lines and spread chaos all around; it was beautiful, and from there the tables started to turn.

Mitsuko kept an eye on her brother who didn't seem to be losing too much of his confidence even when things were very steadily turning against him.

"Ack! They got right up in our faces!" Araki yelled and the rest of the school was even more shocked at what was happening.

Her nails dug into the railing when they surrounded the pole.

"Looks like he's cornered now," Rio said.

Mitsuko sighed, growing more conflicted when her dread mixed in.

Gakushuu threw his helmet off.

"Wait, what is he doing?" Kayano asked.

He grasped Yoshida's hand. He pulled it away and twisted it around, flipping Yoshida onto the ground.

Her brother vaulted to the top of the pole. He used it as support to swing his body around and kick Muramatsu off.

"WHAT IS HE DOING?!"

Mitsuko looked over at her classmates who were gawking at what they were seeing.

"Does he know martial arts, too?!" Karasuma said.

"Well, yeah." Mitsuko shrugged while her friends stared at her in alarm. "I mean, you've seen me fight. We both had training."

"I still didn't expect it from him," Okuda said, humming. "He doesn't seem the fighting type."

The corner of her lips quirked upwards. "Well, he doesn't use it that often." Her smile grew. "And when he does, I normally win the fights."

Rio laughed. "Seriously?"

Mitsuko smiled slyly. "I'm vicious. Besides he's always scared of hurting me so I make sure to take full advantage of that!"

"Wish he was scared of hurting us," Kayano said, pointing at them. "Look."

The A-Class left in the bleachers started to run back home to their pole.

Gakushuu was kicking their classmates off left right and centre, bouncing up and down the pole. He did a flip mid-air.

"Okay, now he's just showing off," Rio grumbled.

Mitsuko laughed at that, feeling her dread subside for a few seconds until the next stage of her classmate's plan came into action.

The pole was already shaking and her gut twisted when she saw Gakushuu become overpowered.

She looked away, growing guilty.

Rio saw and curled her arm around hers.

Mitsuko looked up and felt some of the pressure lessen.

And when Itona came flying through the air and kicked the pole's head it was all over.

She held her breath as the pole shook and fell with everyone else with it.

There was a heavy thud, then a silence that made the pit in her stomach grow and weigh down heavily.

Her brother had fallen onto the grass, crouched down and staring at the ground completely still. 

"The E-Class..." Isogai raised his fist and grinned. "...wins!"

Mitsuko kept staring at her brother while her classmates cheered around her.

* * *

Since everyone was outside the hallways of the main campus were quieter than normal.

Mitsuko swallowed some of her nerves as she made the all familiar trip to her dad's office. Gakushuu may not want to see her straight away but after getting a verbal dressing down from the Principal he would need someone he could trust to be there to pick up the pieces.

But when she reached the office, the sound from inside made her freeze. She listened for a while but all she could hear was mumbled noises which sounded like apologies.

Her hand shook when she knocked on the door.

"Come in," the Principal replied nonchalantly.

She frowned and opened the door. "I wanted to..."

Mitsuko stopped and felt the blood drain from her face when she saw the splatters of blood painting the floors and walls like something from a horror movie, and foreign exchange students crumbled on the floor in pain.

Kevin looked small and weak like a dog kicked so many times it didn't have the strength to stand up or lift its head.

"Is there something you wanted, Mitsuko?" The Principal was standing above her brother who was sat on the ground pressing up against the wall like he was trying to disappear into it.

Mitsuko's throat was dry. "I..." She blinked quickly, staring at Gakushuu whose gaze was firmly on the Principal and then at her dad who was adjusting his cufflinks. "I..."

The Principal hummed. "As eloquent as ever." He looked over at the students who were badly injured. "Mitsuko, please take your brother somewhere where he can compose himself while his friends regain their bearings."

“W-what…?” Her voice shook, the smell of the blood made her nauseous.

“Is there a problem, Mitsuko?” he asked lightly, stepping on Kevin’s hand when he walked over; making a crunching noise that made her eye twitch.

It felt like she couldn’t breath for a second, but she forced herself to calm down, closing her eyes briefly as she took a deep breath. “…No, of course not, sir,” she replied with only a slight tremor in her voice. “Everything’s fine.”

“Good.” He placed a hand on her head; she could see the marks on his knuckles. “Make sure to call an ambulance once you’ve tended to your brother.”

She nodded, clenching her hands tight in front of her. “Yes, sir.” Vomit was creeping up her throat, but she forced it back, looking towards her brother when the Principal moved to his desk. “Of course…”

“Then take him and go,” he instructed dismissively, as if discussing the weather.

Mitsuko didn't move straight away, but when she looked back at Gakushuu something forced her to walk over to him. He looked completely unhurt but there were tiny splatters of blood on his trainers.

"Gaku-nii." She knelt to his level, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Just...come on. Let's go."

He was breathing heavily through gritted teeth, slow measured breaths which were growing more strained the longer he glared at their father. His nails dug into her hand as he stood up, not saying anything as the two of them slowly walked out of the office.

Mitsuko's legs felt like jelly when she quietly closed the door behind her on the way out, holding her brother's arm in a vice grip as they walked down the hallway until they reached the boys' bathroom.

"Hey, it's okay." She struggled to keep her voice calm. "Just calm down, everything's going to be fine. I promise."

Gakushuu pulled away from her when they stepped into the bathroom, his movements stiff when he walked over to the sink.

Mitsuko swallowed anxiously, taking a step closer. "Gaku-nii, I need you to tell me what happened—"

Before she could finish, he shouted and smashed his fist into the bathroom tiles—she jumped back far enough she hit the door—then she watched when he sunk onto the floor and made gasping noises through gritted teeth like he was holding back sobs.

Mitsuko rushed over and wrapped her arms around him in a protective cocoon, holding him tight as he buried his face into his knees. "Ssh. I'm here."

"I couldn't..." His voice was strained and mumbled against his chest. "I didn't s-stop him—"

"It's okay," she whispered, burying her face in his back. "It's not your fault." She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. "It's not your fault."

His untucked hand grabbed onto her arm, clinging on. "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright." She shushed him. "It doesn't matter right now, okay?" Her voice broke a bit. "It's just us right now." She held him tighter. "It's just us, and I'm here. Okay?"

He didn't say anything after that, and let her hold onto him for a long while until the sky turned a warm orange shade.

He slowly lifted his head. "I'm...I'm fine," he muttered as her grip softened. "I...I'm fine."

"I know, it's okay," she murmured, resting her hands on his shoulders.

Gakushuu stayed silent and stared at the ground for a long moment until he eventually looked at her with dull eyes. "I think you were right...we should take a break, for the weekend."

Mitsuko nodded, finding it hard to smile."Just the three of us?"

He nodded, and rubbed the bruises on his knuckles like it was just painted on and could be cleaned off. "Yeah..."

She choked back a sob she'd been holding in and rested her head on his back. "That sounds like a great idea."


	38. It's my fault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Right well that's one hyper-fixation done for today. 

****A/N: Right well that's one hyper-fixation done for today.** **

Their dad had told them a lot of things would be changing, and a lot of things had changed really fast over the last year

Mitsuko frowned, chopping up chillies while Gakushuu stood on a stool carefully boiling some rice on the stove.

Mom was upstairs sleeping, which is what she’d been doing a lot lately while dad was working; something he’s been doing a lot of too.

The only time they ever seemed to see him was when he was asking them homework questions or giving them practice tests to do.

Their eighth birthday had come and gone and mom hadn’t even planned anything or asked them what they wanted. Which was crazy because Mitsuko had been cutting out pages of toys from the catalogue and sticking them on the fridge…

It was like both their parents had just forgotten that they existed.

She sighed, kicking her dangling feet against the air while she chopped up the chillies. “Isn’t it going to be too spicy?”

Her brother looked over his shoulder. “It’ll be fine. Don’t be a wimp.”

Mitsuko glared at him. “You won’t say that when your tongue burns off!”

He rolled his eyes and stirred the pot. “Just finish chopping them and add them to the pan.”

She stuck her tongue out when he looked away. “Fine.” She put the knife down and picked up the chopping board, walking over to him where another stool was. “But I’m not eating it if it’s too spicy.”

“Then you can go hungry,” he replied impatiently as she tossed the diced peppers in.

She rested her head on the counter and watched the pan sizzle. “Is it enough for mom as well?”

For some reason, his face grew cold. “She can make her own.”

“Don’t be mean!” Mitsuko scowled, shoving his shoulder.

“Hey!” He held onto the panhandle when it nudged. “Careful.”

“Mom needs to eat too,” she argued, placing her hands on her hips.

“Then she shouldn’t be lazy,” Gakushuu shot back.

“She’s not lazy, she’s just tired.” Mitsuko frowned. “We can save some for dad as well.”

Gakushuu scowl worsened. “Why bother?” He glanced at the clock. “It’s not even five yet, he’s not going to be back until late.”

“We can put it in the fridge,” she offered. “And its Sunday. People always finish work early on Sundays.”

“He can make his own as well.”

Mitsuko sighed. “You’re mean.” She picked up the bottle of wine next to her. “Can we add this in as well?”

“No!” Gakushuu snatched the bottle from her and put it on the counter nearest him.

Mitsuko huffed. “But mom adds it to stuff all the time.”

“Yeah, because she’s a _grown-up_ ,” he said matter-of-factly. “Go do something useful.”

“I did do something useful!” She glared at him.

He looked irritated. “Then go do something else.” He stirred the rice in with the vegetables. “I told you to tidy the living room—did you do it?”

“…Yes.”

“No, you didn’t,” he said bossily, adding seasoning to the dish. “Go do that while I finish this.”

_He was so bossy!_

“Fine!” Mitsuko stuck her tongue out at him and stepped down off the stool. “You’re boring anyway.”

She heard him muttering something under his breath but she didn’t stay long enough to hear properly. The living room was practically all tidy anyway, there was only a few books and drawings scattered on the floor, and most of it was practice sheets anyway so it wasn’t like it was too important.

Mitsuko gathered a bunch of the books and papers in hand, trying to fit as much as possible in her arms.

She was sure if she just stuffed most of it in a drawer or cupboard no one would notice.

She packed the bottom antique cabinets to the brim with books and scrunched up sheets of paper until there wasn’t any room left.

Mitsuko picked up some more books and looked over at the bookcase where there were a few gaps left. She used the shelves as ladders but couldn’t the top one even when she stretched.

“Gaku-nii!” She yelled. “Can you come help?”

“No!”

She glared at the archway. “COME HELP OR I’LL FALL!!”

“What?!”

He was in there in a second. “What are you doing?!” He rushed over to the bookcase when he saw her. “You’re gonna fall and hurt yourself, get down!”

“No, I won’t.” She rolled her eyes. “Help lift me up some more so I can reach the top.”

“Mitsuko—“

“Just help.” She tried to stretch her arms out with the books.

“Wait, be careful.” He hastily climbed the second shelf and pushed her up.

“Woah!” She nearly fell backwards. “Cool!”

“Mitsuko!!” He sounded like he’d explode.

Mitsuko laughed when he pushed her up high enough to reach the shelf. “There we go!” She put the books back and carefully made her way back down after Gakushuu. “There, see, it’s fine.”

Gakushuu was glaring at her. “You should have grabbed a chair instead—that was dangerous.”

“But I tidied up, see?” She gestured at the de-cluttered room.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yeah, but where did you put it all—?”

The fire alarm went off in the kitchen.

The two of them looked at each other before bolting to the kitchen.

“AH!” Mitsuko yelled when she saw a fire had spread from the pan and up the kitchen curtains. “Get the Foam-thing!”

“It’s an extinguisher!”

“JUST FIND IT!”

Gakushuu furiously searched through the cupboards. “Where is it?!”

“It’s here!” Mitsuko moved the bin and dragged it out. “Ugh! It’s too heavy, help me!”

He helped her lift it up and take out the pin. “You’ve gotta twist and pull it!”

“Just hurry up and point!” Mitsuko aimed it at the curtains which were nearly all charred by now.

A few seconds later a mass of white foam sprayed out from the Extinguisher and put the fire out until there was just a large black burnt patch spread across the wall to the ruined curtains.

They dropped it on the once it was empty, making it thud and roll across the tiles.

Mitsuko stared in shock along with her brother. A disgusting burnt smell with lingering traces of chillies and rice lingered in the air.

Mitsuko sighed deeply, looking at her brother who was still frozen in place. “…We could order a takeaway?”

* * *

“This place is a rental, we’ll lose the deposit if you burn it down,” Gakushuu said dryly as their mom was messing around with the kitchen stove.

All three of them had woken up their usual time in the morning and settled in the old kitchen in the small house they were renting for over the weekend. It was sunny outside so a lot of natural light was coming in through the windows.

“It’s fine.” Mom was smiling, lighting a match to get the old fashioned oven going. “It’s just a bit old.”

Mitsuko grabbed a juice box out from the fridge ad then closed it with her food. “Remind me why you went for the rustic theme again?” She sat down next to her brother at the kitchen countertop. “Because there was plenty of luxury accommodation we could have picked.”

Mom frowned, finally getting the stove to light. “But that would take away from the experience, and we’re lucky we were able to rent a whole place to ourselves considering how rural this place is” She smiled and placed a pan on the fire. “Besides I didn’t want your father wasting money on those extortionate prices.”

Mitsuko shared a glance with her brother. “Why not, he can afford it?”

“That’s not the point.” Mom rolled her eyes and cracked some eggs into the pan. “Anyway, I was thinking, we could go for a walk since the weather’s so nice.” She looked outside the window. “I want to see and get as much done as possible before we have to leave Sunday night.”

Gakushuu sipped his orange juice. “For how long?”

“Just until lunch,” mom replied brightly, checking the digital clock on the counter. “It’s only turned nine so we have plenty of time.”

“It sounds fun,” Mitsuko said.

“Does it?” He arched an eyebrow.

She nudged his arm. “It’ll be nice!” She looked outside the large cabin windows next to them. “We see so much of the city every day, a change of scenery will be good.” She smiled at her mom. “Besides, Mount Koya is the centre of, it’s got tonnes of historical stuff we can look at.”

He hummed. “I suppose…”

Mom clapped her hands, serving the eggs on a plate. “Then it’s decided.” She served the rest of their breakfast on the plates and placed it down in front of them. “This will be so much fun.” She came around and wrapped her arms around them; making them both tense up. “We’re going to have such a good time here!”

Gakushuu sighed. “Sure…”

“Uh, yeah, mom. It’ll be great.” Mitsuko gave her a smile.

Mom seemed satisfied by that and walked back over to the stove.

“Did you check she didn’t bring any wine?” he muttered into his glass as he watched their mom warily.

Mitsuko scoffed. “Obviously.”

* * *

They ended up walking to the Okunoin Cemetery which was covered in moss with trees intersected between the statues and steps.

“This is so cool.” She grinned, looking around in awe. “I can’t even tell how big it is.”

“Well, it’s said to have over 200,000 graves.” Gakushuu walked alongside her while their mom was busy taking pictures behind them.

“We should have come at night.” Mitsuko chuckled. “Now that would have been fun.”

“Oh, yes, getting lost in the middle of know where would have been great,” he replied dryly. “That’s definitely a relaxing vacation.”

She smirked, looking over at the Buddhist statues which had red bibs on. “Rio would find it fun.”

“Nakamura is a deviant who belongs in jail.”

Mitsuko laughed. “I think you’re mixing her up with Karma.” She walked down along the path, looking at all the monks. “Now he would definitely come out here at night.” She bent down to look at the writing on the grave. “Imagine in a few hundred years you’ll have tourist going around our gravestones.” She looked at him over her shoulder. “When I die, make sure I get a massive headstone.” She stood up. “I want something that makes them wonder how I got the planning permission.”

“Who says I’m getting you a headstone?” he asked lightly, raising an eyebrow. “You’re getting burned and tossed in the sea.”

“Gakushuu!”

“It’s efficient.” He shrugged, examining a headstone curiously. “I’m not spending an obscured amount of money on something you won’t appreciate when dead.”

She huffed. “Well in that case, when you die I’m selling you to a pet food factory so you can be put to use and feed hungry pups.”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. “I’m donating your body to science.”

“Kids!” Mom waved at them near a large grave. “Come take a photo!”

Mitsuko sighed along with her brother. “I can’t decide if she’s more annoying sober or drunk.”

“At least when she’s drunk she passes out before she gets too bothersome,” he said, walking over with her to their mother.

“This is so adorable; don’t you think?” She took a quick photo with them. “I haven’t visited somewhere nice since my anniversary.” She looked at the photos on her phone. “And we haven’t real-time together since that nice weekend to Taiwan—how long was that again?”

Mitsuko sighed. “That was three years ago, mom.”

Mom frowned, looking up at them. “Oh…I could have sworn I went back there recently.”

“That was with the Principal,” Gakushuu replied evenly.

“Oh, yes.” Then mom narrowed her eyes at him. “And stop calling him that outside of school, Gakushuu. It’s rude.”

Gakushuu’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Considering how often he calls me Asano, I didn’t think it was an issue.”

Mitsuko looked over in concern.

A brief flash of anger appeared on mom’s face, but it disappeared quickly. “You’re just as stubborn as he is.” Mom sighed, shaking her head impatiently. “Never mind.” She fiddled with the map on her phone. “The map says there’s a restaurant further down past the Buddhist temple so we can eat after we see that. It has good reviews.”

Mitsuko walked alongside her brother while their mom walked ahead. “You okay?”

“Yes,” he replied in a tone that said the opposite.

Mitsuko’s mouth set in a thin line. “You know, it’s okay if you wanna talk about what happened,” she whispered. “You know I’ll understand.” She linked arms with him. “And it’s okay if you’re still upset about it. I’m still getting over all the bad stuff he’s done to me…”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he told her stubbornly, narrowing his eyes at their mom when she took a video while she was walking. “It’s fine. Let’s just try to get through this weekend.”

Mitsuko smiled faintly. “You know it’s not a break if you don’t enjoy it?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I willingly spend time with you and barely enjoy that.”

She elbowed him in the stomach. “Jerk.”

The corner of his lips quirked into half a smile as he clutched his stomach.

* * *

Mitsuko fidgeted nervously by the archway with Gakushuu while their father stood in the middle of the kitchen and stared at the mess they’d made.

“It was an accident…” She said softly.

Dad’s posture seemed to grow tenser. “Was it now?” He looked over his shoulder to fix them with a dark glare. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

She gulped. “Sorry…”

That seemed to make him look more annoyed. “What were you thinking?”

Gakushuu shifted on the spot. “We were making dinner…“

“Yes, I can see that.” Dad’s voice was sharp, narrowing his eyes down at her brother. “A completely _dangerous_ and _stupid_ idea considering your size and age.” His tone grew harsh, making them both shy away. “You not only endangered yourself but also _your sister_.” He looked down on him coldly. “What kind of leader is that?”

Gakushuu seemed to curl in on himself, hunching his shoulders up. “But I didn’t mean to—“

“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” dad interrupted, staring down at him in disappointment. “You’re the oldest, Gakushuu, is this the type of behavior expected?”

Her brother ducked his head, his eyes watering. “…No.”

Mitsuko bottom lip trembled while she watched, feeling guilty for distracting him. “We’re sorry!” She bowed her head. “It’s my fault, dad. I—“

“Enough. I didn’t ask you to make more excuses, Mitsuko,” Dad sighed impatiently. “And where is your mother?”

She shared a hesitant look with her brother. “Um…” Her shoulders hunched a bit. “She’s sleeping…”

Their dad frowned, looking over at the clock. “How long has she been sleeping?”

She shrugged, growing worried. “I don’t know…”

His frown deepened. “Did she wake-up when the alarm went off?”

They both shook their heads.

“She was around in the morning,” Gakushuu said quietly.

“The pills she takes make her sleep through a lot,” Mitsuko told him. “We played the TV _really_ loud and she didn’t even wake-up.”

“What pills?” Dad asked evenly, narrowing his gaze again.

Mitsuko frowned. “The ones she takes to sleep…”

Their father’s expression was tight and closed off. “I see…” He took a deep breath and looked back down at them. “Pick something off the take-out menu on the fridge,” he told them, causing their faces to brighten. “And stay downstairs while I go check on her.”

“Okay.” She and her brother replied together.

Mitsuko’s brow furrowed when dad left to go upstairs. “Gaku-nii?” She frowned, holding his hand. ”I’m sorry I got us in trouble.”

Her brother sighed, staying quiet for a moment before squeezing her hand back. “It’s okay,” he replied, not looking at her properly. “I should have kept a better eye on things. It’s my fault.”

She didn’t agree with that. “But it’s not—“

“Let’s just pick what we want for dinner,” he interrupted, pulling her towards the fridge where the menu was.

* * *

“How is this place 4 stars?” Gakushuu complained when he took a large helping of his rice. “The rice is overcooked.”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, eating a large string of noodles from her bowl. “Well, my noodles are perfect so they just don’t like you.”

“Kids, please.” Mom was trying very hard to hide how annoyed she was; not that it was working. “Can we just enjoy lunch?”

He made a face and stuffed a spoonful of rice in his mouth. “Hm…”

“So are we going to do that traditional tea and meditation thing at the temple?” Mitsuko asked. “It looks pretty relaxing.” She nudged her brother. “Don’t you think?”

He ignored her and just ate his food.

“Meditation could be interesting,” mom said, shrugging. “We came here to relax…” She looked out of the restaurant window while they ate for a bit. “…I know I haven’t been my best for most of this year.”

Mitsuko paused mid-bite, watching her mom warily. “Okay…”

Mom sighed, looking down. “I know I can be…” She grimaced. “Irresponsible when I’m drunk.” She looked at them both sadly. “And these past few months have been hard giving it up, but I’m starting to see things more clearly and I feel more…positive.” She smiled at them. “I have a lot more energy than I used too.”

Gakushuu frowned, glancing at Mitsuko who seemed unsure as well.

“Well, we’re happy that you’re happy, mom,” Mitsuko told her, putting on a smile.

“I’m glad.” She looked earnest, sighing deeply. “I have to admit I don’t think I was prepared enough for motherhood.” She gave a strained laugh. “And when I found out I was having twins I panicked.” Her gaze grew fond. “I remember your father told me not to worry because at least there were two of us so it wasn’t like we were outnumbered.” She smiled warmly, looking out of the window. “He used to say we were a team…”

Mitsuko watched apprehensively as her mom’s smile faded slowly, already feeling the warmth start to leave. “Well, we should probably hurry up if we want to make that meditation session.”

Mom looked up and smiled. “Yes, we should hurry—Gakushuu eat your rice before it gets cold!”

* * *

It turned out meditation was boring.

Mitsuko sighed in annoyance as the over-happy instructor told them to breathe in slowly.

She stole a glance at her brother who was opening glaring at the instructor while their mom was trying her best to follow instructions.

“Are you feeling calm yet?” Mitsuko whispered.

He sighed. “No.”

“Huh.” Mitsuko frowned when she looked around and saw everyone else was relaxing. “Maybe it’s just us…”

“Please no talking,” the instructor in colourful clothes asked lightly, letting out a deep breath.

Mitsuko exchanged a look with her brother before they nodded in silent agreement.

The two of them silently got to their feet while their mom’s and everyone else’s eyes were closed and snuck out.

“Maybe we just weren’t doing it right,” Mitsuko said as they walked towards the temple gardens. 

“Or it’s just a complete waste of time,” Gakushuu replied dismissively, leaning against the wooden fence to stare at the garden. “People actually _pay_ for that?”

“Apparently.” Mitsuko smiled when she saw the sun hit the garden. “This place is nice though, kind of wish we had more time to stay.”

Gakushuu hummed, staring at a beetle as it climbed up the pole of the fence.

“Mom seems happier,” she commented.

“And more annoying,” he muttered.

“Well, yes…” A small silence settled between them for a while. “So…”

He scowled. “I’m not talking about it.”

“I didn’t even say anything,” Mitsuko replied, looking away. “…But if you wanted to talk about it…”

“And how exactly would that help?” He scoffed. “I’ve dealt with him fine enough all these years.”

“Yeah, except it’s not just _you_ he hurt this time,” she said quietly. “I already told you it’s not your fault.”

“…I’m the one who made the bet,” he said, looking at her pointedly. “And I’m the one who asked Kevin and all of them to come over.” He grimaced, scratching the wood beneath his nails.

“Except you’re not the one who beat them until they couldn’t stand up,” she told him grimly. “I kept making excuses for dad as well, but his entire method is insane and it doesn’t make us stronger it just…if anything it makes us weak.”

Her brother frowned at her. “I honestly don’t know where you get this stuff?” He shook his head, staring out at the garden. “Most of it is more hippy-filled than that whole meditation session combined…”

“But unlike that session, I’m right and you know it.” She leaned against the fence and gave him a look. “You can be as stubborn as you want, but you’re playing right into the Principal’s hand.”

Gakushuu scowled at that. “I’m not playing into his hand…”

“Whatever helps you sleep.” Mitsuko picked at her nails. “At least admit you’re more relaxed now that he’s miles away and not breathing down our necks.”

He glared at her briefly, and then sighed, irritated. “…Hm.” He took in a deep breath before letting it out. “Well, the air is a lot less suffocating…” His shoulders relaxed a fraction. “But if this is going to be a real break, I need real food that isn’t overpriced and badly cooked.”

Mitsuko smirked. “Well, I did see a place selling a lot of unhealthy looking desserts and appetisers.”

* * *

Dad had been home a lot since the accident with the fire, which she thought would be fun at first because then maybe he’d pay more attention again and if he was making them breakfast then maybe he could make those pancakes he used to do.

Mitsuko felt some of those hopes fade when a large glass cup of green liquid was plopped in front of her during breakfast on Saturday. “…What’s that?”

Gakushuu made a disgusted face from opposite the table when he was given his. “It looks gross!”

Their dad sat down in the middle, drinking some coffee. “This has all the vitamins and nutrients needed to boost your immune system and health,” he said curtly while Mitsuko gagged when she smelt it.

“Can’t we have pancakes?” she asked with a frown.

“Pancakes are not a nutritious breakfast,” dad replied sternly. “And they are time-consuming to make—breakfast should only last 30 to 45 minutes per day with only necessary conversation.”

Mitsuko scowled. “But can’t we just eat fruit to get our vitamins?”

“Yeah, why do we have to drink this?” Gakushuu argued stubbornly.

Dad sighed, placing his coffee down on the table. “Because both of your health is not at its peak—your sugar levels are too high and you are showing a deficiency in Vitamin A and D,” he told them. “Therefore you will be taking this drink every morning until your health has improved and reaches a satisfactory level. A strong body is just as important as a strong mind.”

Mitsuko wrinkled her nose at the drink. “But—“

Dad’s gaze was cold like ice, silencing any further argument she had. “Finish your breakfast.”

Her brother cringed and was the first to grab the drink, making a face when he took the first sip.

She tensed under her dad’s glare and hesitantly pulled the glass closer to her, taking a sniff. She took a deep breath and looked over at her brother who was clenching his nose as he drank.

Mitsuko copied him and took a large gulp while she held her nose to block out the smell.

“Good.” Dad sipped his coffee. “I have left schedules for each of you in the dining room—weekends and breaks from school should be utilised for maximum productivity from now on.”

Mitsuko sighed, wiping her mouth when she’d downed half of the green substance.

* * *

Gakushuu poured extra sources and spices on his chicken karaage burger before devouring it like a starving man.

Mitsuko laughed and flicked some cabbage at him. “Wow, slow down there. I’m not helping you if you choke on it, and I’m not getting kicked out because you caused a scene.” The café was packed with people, so it had been hard to get a seat.

His mouth was full of the burger, throwing a napkin at her.

“We probably should have told mom where we were going,” Mitsuko said offhandedly, munching on some chicken.

He grumbled, swallowing his food. “She’ll barely notice—besides that session has probably another hour at least.” He wiped some grease off his mouth with a napkin. “The town is small enough for her to find us anyway.”

Mitsuko hummed, sucking some source form her fingers. “Do you think she was serious about what she said?”

Gakushuu hummed, shrugging. “She’s soberer…”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if she’s changed.” She wiped her hands with her tissue. “I can barely follow her thought process most of the time—she makes dad look stable.” She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “It’s like we’re always waiting for her to spiral down again.” Mitsuko grimaced, using her chopstick to pick at the loose chipping of the cheap wooden table. “At least dad is always terrifying, with mom I’m not sure when to be happy or when to be worried.”

“I tend to keep my expectations of her low,” Gakushuu remarked, drinking his lemonade. “It’s the best way to avoid disappointment.”

Mitsuko snorted, shaking her head. “I don’t know; I just wish I could let my guard down with her…”

“I don’t think that’s wise.” Her brother frowned. “Especially when she has certain ideas on fixing you.”

She sighed, resting her chin in her palm. “Considering how crazy dad is, she seems like the least threatening.” She rubbed her neck. “But you’re right. We can’t trust her any more than we can trust dad…”

“Mitsuko! Gakushuu!”

A familiar voice bellowed from the street, causing them to peer around the open archway.

Their mom was looking around frantically.

“HAS ANYONE SEEN MY CHILDREN?!!”

Mitsuko and Gakushuu sighed in exasperation when they saw their mother talking to strangers with a panicked expression.

“Though, you know, despite being crazy, dad is the less annoying parent,” Mitsuko commented dryly.

Her brother scowled and sipped his lemonade. “I’m not taking any more pictures with her…”

* * *

The days that followed were the same and it settled into a routine which quickly became boring. It became apparent that their dad’s invested extra attention was not going to be fun.

He’d also been keeping them busy with different practice tests that he said were meant to ‘evaluate their levels’, even though Mitsuko wasn’t really sure what it was all for.

She sighed, chewing on the end of her pencil while she sat next to Gakushuu in the dining room, filling in the test sheets. His brow was furrowed in concentration.

That was what they were doing when their mom called them from down the hallway.

“Mitsuko, Gakushuu, could you come here please…” Mom’s voice sounded weird.

Mitsuko exchanged a look with her brother before they tidied up their tests and followed their mother’s voice.

Their parents were in the living room and for some reason, their mom was sitting on the sofa with a suitcase by her feet and dad was standing by the TV.

Mitsuko frowned, stopping by the threshold of the archway. “Are we going somewhere?”

They hadn’t gone anywhere exciting for months.

Mom lifted her face from her hands, looking pale and sick. Her light hair wasn’t brushed properly and she looked like she hadn’t slept, which was weird since she slept all the time. “Oh, Mitsuko…”

Gakushuu scowled, looking at both his parents warily. “What’s going on…?”

Mom gave a shaky breath, looking close to tears. “Oh…”

“Your mother’s going away for a short while,” dad told them bluntly, expression calm like he was discussing the weather. “She hasn’t been feeling well lately.”

Mitsuko’s frown deepened. “What?”

“It’s not for long.” Mom stood up and walked over to them. “I just need some time to myself.” She cringed when she looked at Gakushuu, turning away when he glared at her. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh…” Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably. “Where are you going?”

“Just…just to a hospital.” Mom seemed to choke, bending down to their level. “I haven’t been feeling well…”

_Well, it was true she didn’t look well…_

Mitsuko glanced at her dad and then her mom, feeling sick. “…But who’s going to look after us then?”

Someone still needed to drive them to school and pick them up from their after school clubs and tutoring on the weekend, and they could only carry so many groceries.

“I’ve already looked into hiring some extra help,” dad interjected evenly, flicking some flint off his sleeve. “And I’ve reduced my work hours to accommodate.” He glanced at them briefly. “I’ve also signed you up to some more extracurricular activities and cram schools to make up for any gaps.”

_Oh…_

“Yes…” Mom’s mouth was stretch into a grim line. “Your father will look after you while I’m gone, so everything will be alright.”

“Okay…” Mitsuko looked over at Gakushuu, but he didn’t seem reassured either.

Then mom reached out and pulled her into a smothering embrace. “You need to remember to be good while I’m gone.” She held her extra tight. “And be nice to your brother.”

“I am nice…” Mitsuko mumbled into her shoulder.

Mom made a doubtful sound and pulled away, hesitating before she gently hugged Gakushuu. “Be good, Gakushuu.”

Her brother remained stiff like mom was hugging a rag doll. “Okay…”

Mom sighed and kissed him on the top of his head, making him scowl. “You can call me tomorrow once I’m settled.”

It took Mitsuko a second to understand. “Wait, you’re going _now?_ ”

Mom stood up and sighed, not looking at them anymore. “I need to check-in and I already ordered a taxi.” She looked uncomfortable. “It won’t be forever, just a little while…you’ll barely even notice I’m gone.”

Mitsuko looked between both their parents worriedly, feeling a spike of dread when everything started to sink in. 


	39. The weak are lead by the strong

Mitsuko grinned when she found the tallest tree in the woods as the afternoon grew later and verged on the evening.

“We are not climbing that,” Gakushuu said firmly.

She grinned at him. “Yes, we are!”

He crossed his arms. “No, we’re not.”

Mitsuko laughed and ran towards it. “Last one up has to do the dishes!”

“Mitsuko!” He yelled at her. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”

She ignored him and climbed up. “You’re the one who bet you could do it!” She was climbing fast, looking down at him. “Come on!”

He glared up at her and them started mumbling darkly under his breath. “Don’t climb so fast!”

Mitsuko laughed and grabbed onto another branch. “Oh, please, this is easy. You should see the trees at the Old Campus.” She could hear him catching up to her. “Do you think we can see bears from here?”

“Bears are the last thing we want to see!” he snapped, catching up so they were climbing side by side. “And you said we’d climb a smaller tree.”

“I _implied_ a small tree.” She grinned, pausing to rest on near a branch. “I never _specifically_ said it would be small.”

Gakushuu glared at her. “I swear you’re going to give me a heart attack one day.”

“Yeah, but I bet it’s because you would have been having too much fun.” She chuckled, staring out at the view. “And just look at that view!”

You could see over the trees, making the whole thing look like a giant bed of moss with tiny temples nestled in-between. It stretched on for miles.

Mitsuko took a picture on her phone. “This is going to make a great screensaver.”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling even if he didn’t fully realise it. “It’s at least worth some of the trip.”

She smiled, getting comfortable on the branch. “We should travel, once we’re eighteen and school is over.” Her smile grew. “We could travel anywhere.”

Her brother hummed, sitting on the branch opposite her. “We already have for the most part.”

“Yeah, for competitions,” she replied, frowning. “I mean for _fun._ ” She stared at the skyline and the trees. “Where I don’t have to worry about bringing back a gold trophy to feel good about myself…” Her feet kicked the air. “I wanna be able to stuff like this with you more before we have to grow up and then spend the rest of our lives working…”

Gakushuu looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.“…It’s not an unreasonable idea.” He frowned. “I’m not climbing trees all day, though.”

Mitsuko smiled. “You’re not as good as me anyway.”

He scoffed. “Yes, I am.”

She smirked, hanging on tight to the tree trunk. “You’d really consider just hanging out with me for fun?”

“Well it’s either that or I let you do something reckless with those delinquent,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

Mitsuko chuckled. “Will you stop calling them that?”

He brushed a leaf off his shoulder. “It’s what they are.” Then he frowned. “But I refuse to play those video games Araki keeps trying to convince me to buy,” he told her. “The whole activity is mind-numbing and a waste of time.”

She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Like I’d waste time trying to teach you to play.”

He smiled faintly. “I’ll admit this whole experience has been…less time-consuming than I thought.”

Mitsuko’s smile widened. “Glad to hear it wasn’t a total waste of your time then.”

“KIDS!!”

There mom’s shriek caused a few birds to get spooked and fly away.

Gakushuu sighed. “If we’re going to end up travelling with her more, I’d recommend giving the alps a miss.”

Mitsuko laughed and carefully started to climb down the tree.

When they’d both reached the ground they made their way back to where their mom had been taking photos by a tourist point in front of the woods.

“There you are.” Mom was carrying a tray of cold drinks. “Where did you run off to?”

“Bird-watching.” They both replied together.

“Oh.” Mom frowned faintly but shrugged it off. “Well, I thought we could have a drink before we head back to the house.”

They all sat around one of the outside tables near the entrance.

“Thanks for the drinks,” Mitsuko said.

Gakushuu hummed. “Yes…thank you.”

Mom’s smile brightened. “It’s all fine.” She took in a deep breath like she was savouring the air. “This day has been so relaxing…”

Mitsuko slurped her orange juice, glancing at her mom who was smiling when she looked at the woods. “Hey, mom?”

“Hm?” Mom looked over.

“Why did you want to come here anyway?” Mitsuko asked. “No offence, but you never seemed eh nature-loving type so…”

Mom smiled slightly. “Well, I do hate camping. I always have…” She looked at the clear sky and shrugged. “But the town I grew up in was in the country, nothing wild, but it was nice and quiet and my parents never took me to big cities.” Her smile grew. “The first city I went to was Shibuya for University.” She swirled her straw around her glass. “That’s where I met your father, he’d graduated from Harvard, so he was back in Japan travelling.”

“That’s how you met?” Mitsuko said, feeling like she was being given a small drop of something important.

“Yes.” Mom replied with a smile. “He was definitely _something else_ …” She laughed like it was a joke they wouldn’t understand. “For our first date he took me on a jumbo jet—I thought I was going to die.”

Gakushuu nearly choked on his drink. “He took you on a _jumbo jet_?”

Mom tapped her chin. “Yes, but I’m not sure where he got it from though.” She shrugged. “He also cooked a great vegetarian dinner afterwards…”

“Wait, but how did he even ask you out?” Mitsuko question, still trying to process what her mom was saying. “Did he mention the jet beforehand or…?”

Mom rubbed her chin. “Well, I didn’t realise it was a date at first, to be honest.” Her brow furrowed. “His exact words to me were, ‘ _do you want to see my jet?’_ ’, and I admit at first I did think it was a euphemism for something else but—“

“MOM!”

Mitsuko covered her ears while Gakushuu looked sick.

Mom blushed, looking away. “Anyway, it was unforgettable.”

“EW!”

“I meant the jet!” Mom turned bright red. “Stop assuming things!” She drank her orange juice and huffed. “Honestly…”

Mitsuko made a disgusted face. “So gross…”

Mom smiled in amusement. “I’ve been to lots of cities since then.” She hummed. “And your father always spends so much money on our anniversary trips, so I suppose I just wanted something simpler…homelier.”

Mitsuko looked at her mom curiously. “Right…”

Mom hummed and then looked down at her khaki’s when her phone started ringing. “Oh, that’ll be your father checking in again.” She answered the phone. “Hi, dear, we’re all fine here.”

Mitsuko poked at her glass, watching her mom warily.

“Yes, it’s been lovely.” Mom sipped her drink. “The kids are having such a good time.” She held the phone up towards them, making them both tense. “Say hello to your father.”

Mitsuko bit down on her tongue, staying silent along with Gakushuu.

Mom frowned and pushed the phone closer. “What is wrong with you two?”

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. “…Hi, dad…”

Her brother ripped his glass tight, not looking at the phone. “Hello…”

“Hello.” His voice came out of the phone, clear and crisp like he was right there with them.

Mitsuko drank her drink so she wouldn’t have to say anything else.

Mom sighed and pressed the phone back to her ear. “That’s the quietest they’ve been all trip,” she said it like a joke, leaning against the table. “How are things at home?”

Mitsuko finished her drink while mom chatted away cheerfully to their dad.

* * *

“Are you studying?!” Mitsuko snuck behind her brother on the couch.

“No!” He jerked back and held his textbook protectively against his chest. “It was just some light reading.”

“Give me that!!” Mitsuko jumped on the couch and tried to wrestle the book from him. “We are meant to be _relaxing_!”

Gakushuu clung onto the book tight, pulling it back. “I am relaxing! I’ve only read two chapters so far—that’s barely anything!”

Mitsuko pushed his face away with her hand and hooked her arm around the book, trying to yank it free. “It still counts!”

“…What are you two doing?”

They both looked up and saw their mom carrying a tray of three hot drinks.

Gakushuu used the distraction to push Mitsuko off and onto the floor.

“Hey!” She yelled, grabbing the side of the couch to lift herself up.

“You two play too rough.” Mom sighed and came around towards the coffee table. “And Gakushuu, you can’t push girls.”

Mitsuko snorted when she saw his sour expression. “ _Yeah_ , Gaku-nii.” She smiled sweetly. “Don’t push girls.”

He threw a cushion at her when their mom wasn’t looking.

Mitsuko stood up and whacked him with it.

“Mitsuko!” Mom looked up in alarm.

She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Mom sighed deeply, running a hand down her face. “Please can you both just sit down. I made you tea.”

“Fine.” He placed his textbook on the side and sat down on a cushion by the table.

Mitsuko hesitated before sitting down next to him, picking up the teacup. “Thanks, mom.” Her gut twisted a bit when she took a sip and the familiar herbal taste hit her. “It’s nice…”

Mom hummed, savouring the tea. “It is nice. The water here is so much nicer as well.”

“Yeah.” Mitsuko nodded while her brother just quietly sipped his tea.

There was a long silence that settled between them for a few minutes.

“So.” Mom finished her tea and placed the small cup down. “Gakushuu.” She turned to him. “You never said how the Pole-topping tournament went.”

Mitsuko tensed, sparing a glance at her brother.

His grip on the cup tightened. “…I lost.”

Mom’s eyes widened. “Oh, well that’s a shame…” She tapped her cup. “Is that why your friends flew back home so quickly?”

Mitsuko quickly cleared her throat. “This is really good tea mom, how did you make it?”

Their mom’s brow furrowed. “Did I say something wrong…?”

“No,” Mitsuko said quickly. “Honestly this is good tea. I really want to know how you made it.”

Mom was staring at Gakushuu curiously. “Did something happen?”

“No,” he replied tightly, placing his cup down.

Mom stared at them both for a moment as her frown grew. “I thought we discussed keeping secrets.” She crossed her arms. “What is wrong with you two?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re always doing this. I’m not stupid. Why can’t you just tell me what’s wrong?”

The two of them stayed silent.

Mitsuko’s throat was dry, staring at the teacup which had grown cold.

_This might be my only chance to say it…_

“…Do you…do you think there’s something wrong with dad?”

Mom looked at her in alarm. “What kind of question is that?”

She dug her nails into her cup. “Mom, you know dad isn’t the nicest of people,” she began slowly. “He’s also not exactly the warmest dad, and sometimes he can be… _harsh_ , especially when we fail.”

“Yes, I know that,” mom replied stiffly, watching them warily. “He’s been through a lot, you can’t expect him to be an open book.”

Mitsuko took a deep breath and glanced at Gakushuu but he was deliberately avoiding both their gazes.

“Well, um…” She fiddled with her cup. “Like when he…at the end of Second year, he was disappointed in my grades so he…” She rubbed the back of her neck, taking a deep breath. “He drugged my tea.” She kept her gaze down. “And the drug made me vomit.”

No one said anything for a very long time.

Mitsuko’s stomach twisted, shakily placing the cup down.

Mom stared at them in complete silence as the minute stretched on. “I see…” Her hands shook when she grasped them on her lap. “That’s…it’s upsetting that he would feel a need to do that.” She sighed and closed her eyes as she buried her face in her hand. “I wish he hadn’t done that…”

Mitsuko waited for her to say more, but her mom just looked…disappointed. Not angry. Just…

“Is…Is that it?” Gakushuu seemed to struggle to speak for a second, staring at her with wide eyes. “That’s all you have to say?”

Mom lifted her face from her palm and frowned. “Well what else is there to say?” she questioned, sighing again. “What your father did was unnecessary but he didn’t do it to cause harm. I know he can be harsh but the last thing he wants is to lose you two,” she kept talking while they stared in growing dread. “Sometimes he can let his overprotectiveness cloud his judgement and he can get carried away—so I’ll need to have words with him about this.”

_…Have words with him?_

Mitsuko felt like she couldn’t breathe properly. “I…wait, so you knew about the…the locking us in the closet or outside or—“

“Yes, he told me about that. I already yelled at him for locking you outside in the rain.” She looked annoyed. “You could have gotten sick because of that!” She grimaced. “The closet was extreme as a timeout but I can understand where he was coming from if you were being disrespectful to him. My mother shoved bars of soap in my mouth when I did that and you don’t forget the taste of that—”

“And you…” Mitsuko’s hands were shaking a little. “You’re completely fine with it.”

“No, of course not.” Mom sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Some of it is extreme, but…sometimes when you’re a parent, that’s how it is.” She looked sad. “We have to make decisions to make sure you grow up to be the best versions of yourselves. So you can grow up strong.” She rubbed her arms like she was cold. “The world is a horrible place, and your father is trying to prepare you for that…”

Mitsuko couldn’t find the right words to say, looking over at her brother who was staring down grimly. Like he was accepting this.

“Mom, I don’t…I don’t understand,” she murmured, shaking more.

Mom grimaced and stood up. “I’ve argued with him about this too many times.” She let out a deep breath. “He’s just trying to undo the damage I caused by leaving. I was weak and irresponsible, I let my failures drag me down.” She looked on the verge of tears. “If I had been a better mother and wife then you two would have been stronger and more normal!”

Mitsuko stared at her mom in horror. “How can you—? Is that what dad’s told you?!”

“He’s trying his best to support this family.”Mom had started to cry now. “Your father loves us so much he’s always willing to put up with every tantrum and—“

Mitsuko couldn’t stand to hear it any more of whatever delusions her mom had of the type of man their father was even despite how much the truth was shoved in her face.

“Stop saying that!” Mitsuko yelled at her mom, making she and brother nearly jump out of their skin.

Mom winced. “Don’t yell at—“

“He is not a good person.” Mitsuko’s eyes stung when tears gathered, standing up. “He is not a good father or husband.” She stared at her mom fiercely. “I don’t care how much you say he loves us, and I don’t care if you think he’s doing this all for a good reason or because it’ll make us stronger. It doesn’t matter because t-that’s not how you’re supposed to treat your children.” Her vision was blurring up. “Stop making excuses for him because you love him, and stop telling us how _lucky_ we are to have him as our father.”

Mom stared at her in shock. “Honey, I wasn’t trying to upset—“

“No, of course not.” Mitsuko felt exhausted. “You and dad just think you’re doing what’s best for us, and you’re both so convinced you’re right…” She swallowed something bitter, turning away from her to make her way to the room she and Gakushuu were sharing. “But that doesn’t mean I have to listen to it.”

Mom didn’t say anything at all when she marched off and slammed the door behind her.

* * *

Mitsuko sat on the sofa with her brother in their dad—the Principal’s office—after their first week of middle school.

The Principal was sat opposite them delicately trimming a Bonsai tree on the coffee table. “I’ve heard nothing but praise from the faculty since your arrival.” He smiled at them. “Then again they probably just want a pay rise.” He placed the shears down on the table. “How did you find your first week?”

The two of them stayed silent, staring at him cautiously.

She bunched her hands up at the end of her skirt, glancing at her brother. “It was…productive.”

“Yes,” Gakushuu said hesitantly. “The curriculum is interesting.”

“And your classmates?” he asked lightly.

“They’re nice,” Mitsuko replied. “And welcoming.”

“I’m not referring to their personalities,” dad replied dismissively. “I was referring to their academic level?”

“They’re performing well,” Gakushuu replied. “It’s only the first week so it’s still hard to tell.”

“Why would it be difficult to tell?” Dad asked nonchalantly, lifting the tree to view. “I would have thought by now you would have established control?”

"Control?" he repeated warily. 

"I was under the impression you were taking leadership." The Principal sighed in exasperation. “Unless you wish to spend your life following others, in which case I really have wasted my time.”

Gakushuu tensed. “I am establishing leadership,” he said quickly, narrowing his eyes. “I can’t just force them to follow me, I have to earn it first and establish dependence.”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened at that. “Dependence?” She saw her brother look away from her.

“Do you think you’re capable of leadership, Mitsuko?” Dad stared at her intently.

She tried not to fidget under his gaze. “Yes.” She sat up straighter. “I think I am.”

“You _think_ you are?” he repeated slowly, making her realise quickly that was the wrong answer. “You either are capable or you’re not, Mitsuko. It’s a simple answer.”

Her stomach twisted. “I meant yes!” she said hastily. “I-I can lead. I can do it.”

Dad stared at her for a long time, making her feel worse for saying the wrong thing to begin with. Then he shifted his gaze to his plant and started delicately pruning the leaves. “The weak are lead by the strong,” he told her. “It’s only natural and has been the case throughout history. The question is, how does a leader maintain their strength?” he continued while she watched him apprehensively. “Do they maintain it through brute force?” He chopped off a large stray branch. “Or do they apply a subtler touch?”

Mitsuko shifted uneasily while she watched him. “Uh…both?”

“Correct,” he said to her relief. “While each approach has its time and place the key maintaining power is recognising just how much you stand to lose when those below you reach high enough to drag you down—that resolve takes conviction.”

“I have conviction!” The dread in her stomach made her feel queasy. “I can be a leader, and I’ll prove it!"

Dad raised an eyebrow. “So you’ll be the one leading A-Class instead of your brother?”

Mitsuko felt cold, staring at her dad with growing realisation. “I….”

"If you're going to stand against your brother, that would be quite interesting," dad remarked lightly as if Gakushuu wasn't even in the room. 

She felt her brother staring at her. Waiting.

“No.” She felt something die a little inside her chest when she said it. “Gakushuu will be leading A-Class.” He held her hand reassuringly, making her feel she'd made the right decision even though it didn't feel like it. "He's a stronger leader..."

Dad stared at her for another moment before letting out a sigh. “How disappointing,” he said. She grimaced, looking down. “In this world, there are leaders and followers.” He trimmed another branch. “Those who lack the conviction to do what is necessary to reach the top will always be followers.”

* * *

The next morning came too quickly, and the sunlight stung her eyes.

Mitsuko stared at the wall next to her futon.

“…Are you okay?” Gakushuu asked from his futon across the room.

She buried her face in her pillow and hummed. “Yeah, just fine…”

There was a long silence after that.

“You know…I don’t like admitting when you’re right,” his voice was quiet. “But…well…you were probably right about taking things too far with the bet.” He sighed. “No matter how bothersome your classmates are…they did at least show their fighting spirit.”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “Was that praise?”

“No,” he said in disgust.

She snorted, a small smile tugging onto her lips. “Yes, it was.”

“…Shut up.”

Mitsuko felt a laugh bubble in her chest, blinking back tears. “Knew it…”

He sighed loudly. “I’m going to make breakfast.” She heard him start to get up. “Are you coming?”

She closed her eyes and pushed her face into her pillow. “Later. I’m just tired.”

Gakushuu paused for a long time. “…Okay.” He stood up and tidied his blankets. “I’ll keep it in the oven so it stays warm.”

Mitsuko hummed, closing her eyes again.

The doors slid open and then slid shut. The room was silent again when he left.

She stared at the wall for a long time—it was old and there were faint signs of damp creeping up the wall where the paint was bubbling. A tiny spider crawled passed her, trying to find a crack to escape into.

The doors slid open and then slid shut again.

“…Good morning,” Mom sounded tired.

Mitsuko moved her face further into her pillow and didn’t answer.

Mom’s slippers crept along the floor towards her, slow and hesitant. “I wanted to talk.”

“Well, talk then,” she mumbled, not looking up.

There was some more hesitation until mom came and sat down behind her. “Your father and I have a very complicated relationship,” she said softly. “For the most part, I love him more than anything, so much that sometimes he’s all I can think about. It’s like he’s always in my head and that…that makes me hate him sometimes.” Her voice wavered. “I hate that look he gets on his face every time I lose my temper and how he makes it seem like I’m always the unreasonable one…he makes me feel so stupid sometimes.”

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably, lifting her gaze up as she listened.

“And…and I don’t think he does it on purpose,” mom said quietly. “He’s changed so much it’s hard to know sometimes…” She sighed. “I’m sorry I keep making excuses for him, but you have to believe me, he does love you…he just can’t…” she trailed off. “I’m doing horribly at this, aren’t I?”

Mitsuko grimaced, keeping her back to her. “…Why can’t you leave him?” There was a long pause that stretched on. “I know you’re afraid of him, you might try to act like you’re not, but no matter how many times you yell at him. You’re still afraid.”

Mom stayed silent for a moment, breathing strained. “He can be intimidating at times, that’s true.” She let out a deep breath. “But h-honestly, I’m more afraid of him leaving me,” she said faintly. “I’m afraid of being alone and not being able to rely on anyone when I...I don’t have the self-control needed to stop myself from drinking too much or…” A low sob came from her mom when she trailed off. “But your father, he’s so strong a-and he always seems to know what to do.”

“…You can be strong too,” Mitsuko murmured, slowly sitting up. “I’m pretty sure dad’s more afraid you than he wants you to think.” She stared at her mom and sighed when she saw the puzzled look on her face. “Using him as some kind of security blanket isn’t healthy mom, it just lets him control you.”

“It’s not that easy to change, Mitsuko.” Mom’s brow furrowed, shifting her gaze away. “Your father and I made vows to support each other through better or worse, and he’s always helped through the dark times. I probably wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him…”

Mitsuko’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t just pretend all the bad stuff doesn’t exist though.” Her gaze grew cold. “I don’t care if he loves you, that doesn’t give him the right to call you a failure and make you upset when you disappoint him.” Then she cringed. “Or maybe that’s just me…” She looked up at her mom and sighed. “Look. I can’t force you to leave him mom, but please just stop trying to pretend he’s a good father, and stop trying to convince us he is.”

Mom stared down at her lap for a while, picking at her nails anxiously. “I understand…” When her mom looked up her eyes were watery again. “…Your brother told me something similar after you went to bed.” She looked at her apprehensively. “He said a few other things which were quite upsetting as well, but I’d rather not repeat them…”

Mitsuko frowned at that, wondering just how mad her brother had been.

“He also mentioned Nakamura,” mom continued, frowning. “He said you’d be a lot happier if she was around more…”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened in disbelief. “He said that?!”

Mom nodded warily. “I may have reservations and I don’t understand how it works but…” She shifted uncomfortably. “If you wanted to spend more time with her…that would be alright.”

Mitsuko’s brow furrowed. “What happened to the 1950’s housewife weekly propaganda?”

“It isn’t propaganda,” mom replied irritably, scowling. “And some of it’s true, but…well, I suppose you have known Nakamura all your life so it isn’t that bad…” She grimaced. “I do want you to be happy.” She sighed. “I can’t promise I can make your father ease up completely, but I’ll try to…he’s so stubborn he barely listens to me properly…”

“Then make him listen,” Mitsuko said earnestly, hoping something would change.

Mom looked uncomfortable but still nodded. “I’ll try…”

Mitsuko sighed, knowing she wasn’t going to get a miracle breakthrough. “Let’s just have breakfast.”

“Alright.” Mom’s face brightened up a little. “Your brother decided to make breakfast this time—it looks quite good as well.”

“Well, Gakushuu isn’t exactly the half-baked type.” Mitsuko stood up along with her mom. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he cooked up a full brunch platter…”

* * *

There was a tiny little river trail behind the house, barely noticeable at first, but still there.

Mitsuko sat by the edge of it, her knees curled up her chin while she watched the thin trail of water run down and in between the pebbles, while the warm glow of the orange sun shine on the water.

“Are you all packed?” Gakushuu sat down next to her.

“Yeah.” She kept her gaze on the trail. “Did you finish studying?”

“…Yes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I thought so.”

“It was enjoyable.”

Mitsuko snorted, shaking her head. “Of course it was…”

The two of them settled into a comfortable silence for a while.

“…Do you think I’d make a good leader?” she asked him suddenly.

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

Mitsuko shrugged, crossing her legs. “I was just wondering if you’d think I would...”

“Oh…” Gakushuu’s frown deepened. “Well…I suppose you would if you had a chance at it.” He smiled slightly. “You did convince me to climb that tree even though it was stupid and could have ended with both of us breaking our legs.”

She smiled at that. “I was surprised you went along with it.”

“I suppose you just have a different type of leadership to mine…” He shrugged. “You can be very focussed when you put your mind to it.” He picked up a weirdly coloured brown pebble. “And you are strong.”

Her smile grew warmer. “Thanks.” From the corner of her eye, she saw him stuff the pebble in his jeans pocket. “Which every day could be like this…”

“It would get boring,” he said dryly. “Besides, I’ve already received numerous texts from Seo—apparently there was a wasp in the city library on Saturday and they all nearly set the study room on fire.”

Mitsuko burst out laughing. “What?!”

“I told you they were useless without me.” He arched an eyebrow. “If I don’t get back there soon they’ll be dead before the week is up.”

She clutched her stomach when the laughter bubbled in her chest and came out. “I can see that happening.” She smirked. “Which is kind of the big drawback with making them dependent.”

Gakushuu hummed, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. “I suppose…”

Mitsuko sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “You already admitted I was right at least twice this weekend.” She smirked. “You might as well admit it for the third time.”

He rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t give yourself nearly as much credit as that.”

* * *

Mitsuko hesitated to step inside when they all arrived home in the late evening, even mom looked apprehensive when she looked around the hallway.

“We’re home…” Mom left her case by the stairs and walked into the living. “Hello—oh?”

Mitsuko followed her and looked passed her where a large bouquet of flowers was in a crystal vase—they looked very pretty.

Mom smiled faintly and smelled them, lifting the vase up.

“I saw them while I was in the city.” Dad was leaning in the archway to the kitchen with a coffee in hand—unsurprisingly still dressed in his suit like he was going to work. “I thought you’d like them.”

Mitsuko watched her mom’s face curiously when she saw a conflict of happiness and wariness tick across her face.

“…Thank you.” Mom placed them back on the coffee table and walked over to him. “That’s so nice of you.” She kissed his cheek and then pulled away quickly; dad frowned. “Did you finish all the leftovers I made you? I’m hungry from all that travelling.”


	40. Be Nice

Gakushuu had seemed calmer after the trip, which Mitsuko found as a relief after the whole Pole-topping aftermath.

Mom had seemed different as well, she seemed happier and her emotional outburst or bad moods seemed to have balanced a little. It made her easier to be around.

Which was why Mitsuko was using her break from studying to help her make dinner. Which was becoming more of a common thing now since mom was no longer going out drinking with her friends.

Mitsuko wiped her hands over striped apron when she finished dicing the cabbage. “Finished.”

Mom frowned when she saw the chopped up cabbage. “Mitsuko, you need to cut it up thinner.” She wrinkled her nose. “The pieces are too big.”

Mitsuko frowned. “They are small!”

“Not small enough.” Mom shook her head and checked on the chicken satay that was in the pan. “Chop it up more.”

She glared at her mom and grumbled under her breath as she cut up the cabbage some more.

“Once you’re done with that you can help chop up the veg,” she added, smiling sweetly. “It’s so nice of you to help.”

Mitsuko was still muttering darkly as she aggressively cut up the cabbage. “No problem…”

Mom hummed and turned the chicken over. “Well, I appreciate it.” She added some more source to the pan.

The two worked in silence for a while, the sizzling of the pan and chopping noises filling in the quiet patches.

Mom glanced at her briefly. “I talked with your father last night about some of the things you told me.”

Mitsuko tensed. “Oh…” She held the knife tighter. “What did he say?”

“Not much.” Mom sighed. “I did tell him what he did was unnecessary, and that I was upset with him.” She fiddled with the panhandle. “He told me his usual reasons for doing what he did.”

“…And did you believe him?” Mitsuko watched her mom from the corner of her eye.

Mom let out a deep breath. “Not as much as I normally would.” She smiled at her grimly, stroking the top of her head. “I did tell him he needs to ease off a little, but he barely listens to me…”

“Then make him listen,” Mitsuko said quietly, placing the knife down to hold her mom’s hand. “And if he doesn’t, then threaten to leave.”

Mom sighed. “Mitsuko, you know I can’t do that...”

“Yes, you can,” Mitsuko whispered. “You just have to be brave enough to stand on your own two feet.” Her gaze was pleading. “And it wouldn’t be like your alone, you’d have me and Gakushuu.”

Mom looked away. “I…” She trailed off when dad walked into the kitchen with a coffee mug in his hand. “Is everything alright?”

Dad smiled at her thinly and walked over to the coffee machine. “I just needed a refill, I’ll be working through the night with this amount of paperwork I need to get through.”

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and went back to chopping up the cabbage.

“I’ll call you when dinner’s ready so you can come grab a plate,” Mom said, turning down the heat under the pan. “Please don’t make a mess in the office. I cleaned again this morning.”

“Thank you, and I won’t,” he replied politely, waiting for the machine to pour him a cup. “It’s very considerate of you to help, Mitsuko.”

Mitsuko took a deep breath before she looked up. “Well, no one else was helping.”

Mom made a choking noise which was meant to be a laugh. “She’s just upset because I made her re-chop the cabbage.”

“Yes, I did hear some yelling,” dad said lightly, placing a hand on mom’s back as he took his filled coffee form under the machine. “That cutting is quite sloppy, Mitsuko.”

Mitsuko was tempted to throw the whole chopping board at him. She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, staying quiet in case she said something she’d regret.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then.” Dad smiled and leaned down to give mom a light kiss on the lips.

Mitsuko nearly vomited, covering her mouth, and then glared at her dad when his smile seemed to grow smugger.

Mom blushed and smiled at him like he’d given her a gift, making Mitsuko’s glare grow colder while she watched her dad leave the kitchen.

* * *

Mitsuko was surprised that her mom was letting her friend come round to visit on the weekend…well only a few, but it was still something.

“Wow, these dumplings are great!” Okajima was munching on one happily while they sat around the coffee table in the living room with a large plate of veg and meat dumplings in the middle. “Thank you, Mrs Asano!”

Mom popped her head around the archway to the kitchen and smiled. “Oh, thank you…”

“Yeah, they’re really good,” Fuwa said brightly.

Kimura nodded, his mouth stuffed full.

“Thank you,” Sugaya added politely.

“Well, isn’t that sweet.” Mom’s smile grew. “I can make more.”

Then she blushed when Mitsuko raised an eyebrow at her as if to say _‘I told you they were nice people!’_.

Rio happily ate another one. “Keep ‘em coming, no complaints here.”

Mitsuko smirked, shaking her head when her mom disappeared back in the kitchen. “You know you guys came here to study, not eat.” She looked pointedly at their half-finished workbooks.

“We are studying!” Sugaya whined, tapping his pink pen on the paper. “Mid-terms are still a few weeks away.”

“Yeah, and we already did great last time.” Okajima grinned. “Those nerds don’t stand a chance.”

Mitsuko frowned. “But you can’t get complacent.”

“We’re not.” Rio was making a paper aeroplane. “We’re still studying.” She raised an eyebrow at the stack of test sheets next to Mitsuko. “If anything, you’re the one over-studying here.”

“Yeah, well blame my dad.” Mitsuko scowled, glaring at the stack of practice tests. “He keeps giving me extra homework and tests on top of the stuff Koro-sensei gives.” She glared at the test while she filled it out. “And if I don’t do them all in time then he starts pulling the ‘ _we had an agreement’_ card.” She sighed. “Maybe I’m being over-anxious, but I need to stay in the top ten or else they’ll be hell to pay…”

Rio smiled reassuringly. “Hey, don’t worry, you’re doing great.” She picked up another dumpling. “Just try not to stress too much and study the best you can.”

“Yeah, we can always cram in the last two weeks anyway,” Fuwa said, shrugging. “That’s the best time really because we remember all the stuff.”

Mitsuko hummed, frowning. “I’m not so sure about that…”

“Can we at least take a real break soon?” Kimura asked. “We’ve already been stuck inside for two hours…”

“I can’t leave until I finish all these worksheets.” Mitsuko sounded annoyed, trying to focus on her work. “My dad’s marking them tonight.”

“Okay, but don’t overwork yourself,” Sugaya said, looking worried.

“We could always hang-out in your room instead,” Fuwa suggested. “Then we can play music!”

“I’m not allowed boys in my room,” Mitsuko mumbled.

Rio raised an eyebrow. “Since when?”

Mitsuko blushed. “Uh…” She didn’t really want to tell her that it was because her mom had walked in two years ago and seen her kissing Ren. “Just for a few years now…”

“Oh, well can we play music down here?” Fuwa asked.

Mitsuko paused. “…I mean, it’s not something we normally do.” She shrugged. “Mom! Can we play music!?”

“Hm?” Mom looked around the corner. “Oh, well…” She frowned, glancing at the clock. “As long as it’s not too loud…”

“Awesome! Thanks, Mrs Asano.” Kimura opened up his backpack and took out a handheld Bluetooth speaker.

Mom hummed and went back into the kitchen. “Just for a little while…”

Kimura was already turning the speaker on. “I charged it up because I figured we might go to the park to hunt some Pokemon after this.”

“Pokemon?” Mitsuko looked confused. “What, like the anime?”

“It’s this app on our phones—you should get it!” Fuwa held up her phone where the Pokemon Logo was displayed. “I’m on level 30 already!”

“Seriously?!” Kimura looked jealous. “I’m still on level 20.”

“Uh, what are they talking about?” Mitsuko turned to Rio.

Rio chuckled. “It’s like a treasure hunt game.” She stretched, yawning. “I tried playing it but I got bored after a few weeks.”

“Oh.” Mitsuko still didn’t quite get it.

“Oh! Let me put on my playlist!” Fuwa grinned, looking through her Phone. “Ritsu, helped me download 100 anime opening songs!”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow, wondering why there needed to be so many anime openings and if so, why would you want to download the songs?

Fuwa saw the look and grinned. “I’ll convert you into an Otaku soon enough, Mitsuko!”

“Oh? Good luck with that,” Mitsuko said dryly. “Sugaya’s already failed.”

Fuwa frowned, turning to the artist who was already doodling on his workbook. “What did you show her?”

“Naruto,” he replied, shooting Mitsuko a dark look. “She didn’t even get passed the fifth episode…”

“Seriously, Mitsuko?” Fuwa looked disappointed. “Even Terasaka stuck it out!”

“It was boring,” Mitsuko replied dismissively.

She shook her head and sighed. “Weak!” Then she turned on her music, blasting out a song with a choir chant.

Mitsuko shook her head and tried to focus, but after a few minutes when the music got louder, she resigned herself to the fact she would not be getting that much studying done. At least it was nice having them around and Rio was sitting very close.

“I’m surprised your mom hasn’t kicked us out yet,” Rio murmured in amusement.

Mitsuko shrugged. “She’s been pretty okay since the trip…we had a talk that kind of brought stuff to light.” She grimaced faintly, scribbling an answer down on her test. “She’s trying to be more…tolerant, I guess.”

The other girl hummed, looking over her shoulder at the kitchen entrance. “Right.” She smiled at her. “Well, that’s good then.”

Mitsuko nodded. “Yeah, it’s better than before at least,” she replied. “At least now she isn’t freaking out so much about the gay thing…”

Rio shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah…” She tapped her pencil on her workbook. “I’ve been thinking of telling my grandma…” Her voice was quiet.

Mitsuko’s eyes widened at that. “About you being…?” Rio nodded. “…Will she be okay with that?”

“No.” Rio shrugged uncomfortably. “But I don’t want to keep it a secret anymore, and besides, my parents already know and they're fine with it.”

Mitsuko nodded and hesitantly held her hand under the table. “I can…I can be there with you if you want?”

Rio looked surprised, but then a warm smile spread across her face. “You would?”

“Yeah.” Mitsuko smiled back, squeezing her hand. “That’s what friends do, remember?”

Rio held her hand a little tighter, and then looked back down at her work, but there was a faint blush just noticeable on her cheeks.

Mitsuko’s smile grew when she saw, but her smile wavered when her skin prickled uneasily.

The front door slammed shut, making her tense and look over to the archway leading to the front hall.

Mitsuko grabbed the speaker while her friends were still bopping along to the music, and quickly turned it off.

“Hey!” Fuwa objected. “Why did you—?Oh…”

The Principal was standing in the archway staring at them with mild interest.

“I wasn’t aware we were having guests,” he said lightly.

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes. “Mom said it would be okay.”

“I made more dumplings.” Mom came out of the kitchen carrying a fresh plate. “Oh.” Her smile shook a little when she saw her husband. “You’re home early.” The smile returned quickly. “Did the meeting go well?” 

"Yes, it did," he replied, staring at the Class E students. 

"That's good." Mom placed the plate on the table before she walked over to him. “I thought it would be nice for Mitsuko to have her friends around since Gakushuu is out all day.”

“I see.” Dad smiled politely at Mitsuko’s friends. “But it’s getting rather late, you children should get going.”

Rio crossed her arms. “It’s not even three yet.”

He pretended to check the time on his watch. “Yes, but unfortunately I have quite a lot of work to get through and can’t have any distractions.”

“They can stay a little longer,” mom said firmly “It’s rude to kick guests out so early.” She gave him a pointed look. “They won’t make much noise.”

Mitsuko looked between mom and dad anxiously when he stared at her mom blankly.

"You'll barely even know they're here," mom added, smiling at him. "Just another hour at least."

“…Very well,” he said after a moment. "I suppose another hour would be acceptable." 

Mom smiled sweetly. "That's fine." She kissed his cheek, drawing disgusted looks from Mitsuko and her friends. 

Rio made a gagging noise, earning a nudge from Mitsuko.

“Would you like me to bring you some coffee while you work?" Mom offered. 

"Yes, thank you, I would." Dad gave the guests another dismissive look as he turned to leave. 

Mitsuko sighed in relief when her dad finally left to go to his office.

Mom’s smile was slightly crooked, before shooting Mitsuko a stern look. “Try to work quietly so you don't disturb him,” she told them before heading back to the kitchen.

Mitsuko let out a sigh of relief and handed Kimura his speaker. ”Sorry we can listen to music later.” She picked up another test sheet and started to fill it out. “I only have five more of these to get through and then we can go to the park.”

Her friends sighed, already looking bored.

“But that could take forever,” Okajima muttered.

Rio frowned and kicked him from under the table, making him yelp.

“I mean! Yeah, of course, that’s okay,” Okajima said quickly.

Rio smirked. “Yeah, we don’t mind.”

Mitsuko gave her an amused look. “Right…”

* * *

“So is A-Class ready to get their butts kicked?” Mitsuko teased as she walked home from school with her brother.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. “Such confidence…”

“I’m just excited.” She smiled at him. “I want everyone to show even more of their best this time—Oh, by the way, how are Juba and the others?” Her smile grew. “Do they miss me?”

He scoffed. “Hisaya-sense certainly doesn’t.”

“Well, _obviously_.” She bumped his shoulder. “But what about the rest of Class A—I feel bad for leaving Juba and the others without saying goodbye properly.”

“They’re fine,” Gakushuu replied lightly. “…They were asking about you.”

Mitsuko grinned. “Knew it.” Her smile was fond. “I’ll have to arrange a study session with them at some point.”

His eyes narrowed. “Study with your own class.”

“Hey! I can still study with whoever I want,” she argued, scowling. “Besides, I study with you all the time and we’re in different classes.”

“We live in the same house, it’s unavoidable,” he replied dryly.

“It’s still hypocritical,” she said stubbornly, frowning. “You can’t control every aspect of their lives, Gaku-nii.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I practically already do.”

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. “That’s not something to be proud of.”

“Mitsuko!” Ritsu’s voice was muffled in her blazer pocket.

Gakushuu paused and looked around in confusion. “Did someone just say your name?”

“Uh, that’s just my ringtone!” Mitsuko quickly took out her phone and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Something’s happened,” Ritsu sounded frantic.

Her brother stared at her warily. “You have a ringtone that calls out your name?”

“Ssh!” She shushed him and turned away with the phone to her ear. “Sorry about that. Wait, what do you mean something’s happened?”

“A few of the others in the class were doing a parkour run to the train station—I told them it was a bad idea, but they didn’t listen,” Ritsu explained quickly. “And an old man was riding his bike and t-they bashed into him and now they’ve had to call an ambulance and it’s just horrible!”

Mitsuko held the phone closer to her ear with dread. “Is the old man okay?”

“I don’t know, but he looked badly injured and he’s really old and frail!”

She grimaced. “Where are the others gone then?”

“They said they were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital,” Ritsu said worriedly. “Koro-sensei and Karasuma sounded mad on the phone!”

“I can imagine…” Mitsuko sighed, already imagining their teachers' outrage and injuring a member of the public because of their training.

A parkour run to the train station? Seriously, what were they thinking?!

“Who was involved?” Mitsuko asked, frowning. “Was Rio and Sugaya there?”

“Yes. Pretty much all the class was,” Ritsu replied grimly.

“Idiots.” She buried her hand in her face. “Okay. Well, in that case, I’ll need to call them to make sure they haven’t been murdered.”

“That’s probably a good idea…”

Mitsuko sighed. “Right. Well, thanks for telling me. Keep me posted on any updates.”

“Will do. I’ll let you know if Koro-sensei sends out any announcements. Bye.”

“Thanks. Bye.” Mitsuko shoved her phone back in her pocket ad sighed.

“…Did something happen?” Gakushuu asked curiously.

Mitsuko grimaced. “There was an accident…but it’s fine, they have everything handled.” She started walking ahead. “I don’t really want to talk about.”

He hummed, walking alongside her as he watched her suspicious. “Is it serious?”

She sighed. “Hopefully not…”

* * *

“…So how long are you gonna give me the silent treatment?” Rio asked from behind her.

Mitsuko scowled and picked up a box of donated books for the children. “I’m not giving you the silent treatment.”

Rio frowned, crossing her arms. “Barely making conversation and just giving yes or no answers still qualifies as the silent treatment.”

Mitsuko’s jaw twitched with contained frustration as she carried the box inside of the old school. 

The rest of their classmates were already inside the crowded schoolhouse, trying to teach and keep the kids entertained.

“Look….I know you’re angry,” Rio said slowly. “And I completely get that.”

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and dumped the books by the more or less bare bookshelves. “Do you?” She turned around and folded her arms. “What part of, I have to stay in the top ten or there will be hell to pay, was hard to understand? Of course, I’m angry, I’m stuck here babysitting when I could be studying.”

Rio’s brow furrowed into a remorseful pout. “I said I was sorry!”

Mitsuko felt the ice around her heart melt a little when she saw that look, but she quickly shook her head and forced herself to look away. “I’m still angry…”

Rio sighed. “I know…” She hesitantly reached out and held her hand. “What the rest of us did was really stupid, and I’m sorry you got dragged into this punishment too.” Her voice was soft and earnest. “I know you’re under a lot of stress already.”

Mitsuko sighed when she started to feel guilty. “Damn it.” She looked over her shoulder and then looked down at their entwined fingers. “Are you trying to guilt-trip me?”

A smile spread across Rio’s face. “Is it working?”

Mitsuko grimaced, rolling her eyes. “You’re so annoying.”

The other girl smirked, pulling her closer. “It is working!”

Mitsuko let go of her hand and scowled at her. “It won’t if you keep being smug about it.” She crossed her arms. “And I still have to deal with the stress of studying even more.” She sighed tiredly. “I’m barely getting four hours sleep…”

Rio’s smile faded. “Are you still eating okay?”

“Yes.” Mitsuko sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s just a lot of work.”

Rio frowned. “If you need to find a quiet spot to relax, you can, we’ll understand,” she told her warmly. “You can even sneak in some studying if that help.” She linked arms with her. “We need to keep you in E Class, so just tell us how we can help?”

Mitsuko hummed, weighing up the offer. “I still want to help…”

“You still can. Just take it easy,” Rio reassured.

“…Well, okay.” Mitsuko smiled gratefully. “I have been meaning to catch up on some knitting.”

Rio smiled crookedly. “Well, I have been wanting a new set of gloves.”

* * *

“There.” Mitsuko slammed the stack of test sheets on her dad’s desk when she finally finished them at eleven at night. “I hope you realise just how many trees you’ve killed over this.”

Dad didn’t even look up from what he was writing. “A worthy sacrifice for education.” He signed another document. “Did you finish studying after dinner?” He tidied away the documents he had been signing, slipping them in a drawer. “I understand you’ve been pre-occupied during school hours thanks to your classmates most recent behaviour.”

Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms. “Yes, I have…” She sighed. “So, I gather Mr Karasuma filled you in on the details of what happened?”

“Yes, of course.” Dad picked up one of the tests from the top pile she’d dumped on the desk. “I went to Mr Matsukata myself and apologised for their behaviour.” His gaze was cold. “I made it very clear that the actions of those select students were in no way a reflection of our school.”

She grimaced, looking down. “They may have messed up, but at least we’re all trying to put it right.”

Her dad raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’m sure those children will benefit _greatl_ y from your interference and disruption of their education.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm. “How fortunate for them.”

Mitsuko’s scowl returned. “We happen to be doing a great job!” She placed her hands on her hips. “They think we’re amazing.”

“Of course they do,” he said lightly as he marked her test. “Children are easily entertained at that age.”

Her eyes twitched. “Whatever.” She grimaced. “May I go to my room to study now?”

“No,” he replied, turning the test page. “You’ve already gotten question two wrong—take a seat.”

Mitsuko sighed and sat down in front of the desk, glaring at him with tired eyes. “What did I get wrong?”

“On the question, you concluded that the ingredients and method listed would make Nitrile rubber when the correct answer was for _Hydrogenated_ Nitrile Rubber, which you would have picked up if you hadn’t so obviously rushed through the question,” he explained to her, writing another comment on the test. “Your handwriting also needs improvement, it’s become jagged.”

“Okay, fine. I won’t rush next time.” Mitsuko sighed, realising this was going to take a while. “Are you going to grade every test in front of me?” She looked at the clock and grimaced when the time ticked towards half eleven. “Mom already complained yesterday about me staying up too late again, she won’t like it if you don’t let me sleep.”

Dad arched an eyebrow. “Your mother is already aware of how important education is and I am perfectly willing to remind her of such,” he replied evenly, making her tense. “I have been quite concerned with her as of recently.”

“Why?” Mitsuko asked warily. “She’s doing fine.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’d say better than ever actually.”

“Is she now?”

“Yes.” She crossed her arms. “The time away was good for her.”

“Really?” His gaze was shrewd. “How interesting that you would think that.” He didn’t say anything for a moment, writing a small comment on one of her answers before turning the page. “What do you imagine would happen if your mother wanted a divorce?”

The question completely threw her off. “ _What_?” She stared at him in alarm. “What are you talking about?”

Dad’s tone was conversational. “I asked you, what you think would happen?”

_Why was he bringing this up? Had mom said something?!_

Mitsuko pursed her lips tight, watching him apprehensively. “…She’d be a lot happier for one thing.” Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t care if you think you’re helping her or keeping her in line, she deserves better and she deserves someone who treats her with respect and loves her _properly_.”

He paused, placing the pen down as he fixed her with a sharp look. “I see.” He clasped his hands on the desk. “And you believe, I don’t provide her with the love and respect she deserves?”

Her eyes narrowed. “She made it very clear that you don’t.”

Dad sighed, shaking his head slightly. “Do you think I sent your mother away on a whim?” he asked her lightly. “Do you think it was something I wanted to do?”

She chewed the inside of her mouth. “…No.”

“Your mother was and _is_ a very emotionally unstable woman,” he said lightly. “If I hadn’t sent her away when I did she would have overdosed herself on sleeping pills and whatever alcoholic beverage she was drinking them with.”

She flinched when she imagined her mom pale and sickly in bed and barely alive. “That’s…she isn’t like that anymore.”

“And why do you think that is?” His voice was clipped. “When your mother was out at night with who knows who, who do you think made sure she arrived home safe every night?”

Mitsuko looked down grimly when she thought about it. “I know how she can be, and I know it would have been hard for you to deal with that.” She frowned at him. “But she needs more help,” she said firmly. “Just cleaning up after her messes and yelling at her afterwards is just putting a band-aid on her problems. She needs professional help, dad, maybe some medication…”

“Your mother cannot be trusted with medication,” dad said stubbornly.

“She’s not a child,” Mitsuko argued in exasperation. “You can’t just stop her from getting proper help because you’re afraid it’ll backfire.” Her gaze grew sad. “You’re suffocating her…” She stared at her hands which were clasped tight on her lap. “You keep smothering us—you say you want us to be strong but then you keep pushing us back every time we start gaining control.”

“You and your brother have failed to prove you have the strength needed to lead.” His voice was calm and measured. “Which is why my guidance is required, something you will thank me for soon enough.”

She lifted her gaze, staring at him coldly. “You really think any of us are going to _thank_ you?”

Dad’s lips were twisted into a faint scowl. “I don’t expect you to fully understand the complexities of marriage at your age, much less one that has lasted sixteen years.” His voice was calm despite the clear anger fuelling each word. “But I expect you to understand that your mother will not do well on her own.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you plan on spending the remainder of your childhood being her caretaker, which would compromise any future ambitions you could ever hope to have.”

“I…” Mitsuko stomach twisted when she imagined her mom being alone in her current vulnerable state.

“ _Well_?” He looked at her like he expected an answer.

Memories of her mom’s crying and mood swings came back like a rash, spreading a horrible doubt all over. “No, I can’t do that…” She grimaced, looking away. “But she needs help, dad. She needs someone to talk to—“

“I will be the judge of what your mother needs,” he said firmly. “I also expect you to fully understand the conditions you agreed on when you went back to E Class,” he continued while she gave him a dark look. “If you wish to stay there and continue seeing them, you will remain respectful while under this roof and follow the rules I have set for this family. Do you understand?”

She clenched her teeth tight. “… _Yes_.”

* * *

“Fucking bastard,” Mitsuko muttered to herself as she aggressively knitted a scarf under a tree. “Smug prick thinks he can just be a complete asshole whenever he wants.” She glared at her needles when she accidentally stabbed her thumb. “ _Fuck_.”

“Wow, you swear a lot!” A young boy popped his head from around the tree.

Another boy appeared from the other side. “Yeah! You shouldn't use bad words like that.”

“Well you shouldn’t sneak up on people!” she snapped petulantly.

One of the boys wandered around, staring at her knitting curiously; he was quite short and he had thick curly hair and stubby legs. “What are you doing?”

“I’m knitting a scarf,” Mitsuko mumbled as she sucked her bleeding thumb.

“My grandma knits!” The other boy came forward, grinning; he had a large gap tooth and hair cut short. “I thought it was just for old people.”

Mitsuko glared at him. “No, it’s not.” She sighed and removed her thumb from her mouth when she stopped tasting blood. “I’m making a scarf for my brother.”

“Why don’t you just buy one?” the curly-haired boy asked.

“Because I want to make him something he can keep forever.”

“…But you can still buy things and keep them forever,” the boy replied.

Mitsuko sighed. “It’s not the same.”

“Yeah, but if you’re gonna buy thread, you could have just spent the money on a scarf,” the boy with the gap-tooth said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Yes, it does you little brats!” Mitsuko snapped, making them jerk back in alarm. She let out a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “I just want him to have something special, that no one else can give him.”

“…But what if someone knits the same scarf?” The gap-toothed boy asked. "It looks pretty plain anyway."

"Yeah! Anyone could knit that. It's all just red."

Mitsuko’s eyes twitched. “If you’re just going to ask questions all day, then you can leave.”

“Aw! No, I wanna watch!” The curly-haired boy whined.

“Yeah, me too!” his friend said. “Can we use your needles for swords?”

“No,” she replied sternly. “You can sit quietly and watch.” She picked up her red wool and tossed it to the curly-haired boy. “Hey, you—whatever your name is—hold this so it doesn’t get tangled.”

The boy’s face brightened. “Okay!” He sat down in front of her and held the wool. “And my name's Aito.”

“And mine's Quan!” The gap-toothed boy told her, sitting down next to his friend. “What’s your name.”

“Asano Mitsuko,” she answered, carrying the scarf on where she left on.

“Asano-senpai!” Quan said, grinning. “How old are you?”

“Yeah, are you _really_ old?” Aito asked brightly.

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not old.” She sighed. “And you can just call me Mitsuko.”

“Okay, Mitsuko-senpai!” Quan said.

Mitsuko felt the corner of her lips curve into a smile. She focussed on her knitting while they watched in interest.

“So why were you angry?” Aito asked, watching as the wool around his hands was gradually pulled away as she finished another line of the scarf.

She sighed. “I’m just angry at my dad.” Her smile was grim. “He’s not a very nice man.”

“Oh.” Quan frowned. “My dad’s nice.”

“Yeah, why is yours mean?” Aito asked.

“It’s complicated.” She shrugged, sighing. “He makes life very hard.”

“Then just runaway,” Quan replied like it was obvious.

“I don’t think I’d get very far” Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “And you do know running away is very dangerous? What if you get hungry?”

  
Aito shrugged. “Just pack lots of snacks.”

“Right…” Mitsuko sighed, shaking her head. “Anyway, I can’t. I also have to look out for my brother and mom…” She grimaced. “He’s not very nice to them either…”

“Well, I’d just run away anyway,” Aito said stubbornly. “There’s no point of being sad all the time.”

“I’m not sad _all_ the time,” she muttered, frowning. “I’m just stressed—that’s what happens when you grow up.” She picked some fluff off the wool. “Or maybe I just overthink things. It’s hard to tell sometimes.” She stared at their curious faces. “I’m trying to deal with it so I don’t upset the people closest to me, but it’s hard sometimes.”

“Maybe you’re just grumpy,” Quan said, shrugging. “My aunt’s grumpy all the time, and she’s really _super_ old.”

“I’m not grumpy.” She gave him an annoyed look. “I’m just worried about my mom…she’s… _sad_ a lot of the time.”

“Oh.” Aito’s brow furrowed. “Well when my mom’s sad I make her breakfast, or we watch TV together!”

“Yeah, mom’s like it when you do stuff for them,” Quan said. “And they like a lot of hugs, and mine likes it when I make her cards with hearts on them.”

“That’s really sweet.” Mitsuko smiled warmly. “I haven’t been able to do stuff like that with my mom for a very long time.”

“Then do it now and maybe she won’t be so sad,” Quan replied like it was obvious. “Then she’ll be happy again.”

She frowned. “I don’t think it’s that simple…”

“Yeah, but if your dad’s really mean to her then she’ll be happy if your nice,” Aito argued, tangling his fingers in the thread to make a pattern. “If Sakura is mean to me, my mom always cheers me up afterwards so it isn’t so bad.”

Quan nodded. “Yeah, moms are good at that.”

“…I guess you’re right.” Mitsuko’s brow furrowed, thinking about how mom clung to any physical affection dad showed her; it wasn’t like Gakushuu or her ever really hugged mom much anymore. “Maybe she does need more hugs…”

“See. Now you don’t have to be angry about it, Senpai!” Aito grinned. “Problem solved.”

“Uh.” Mitsuko smiled warily. “Not exactly but you two certainly gave me something to think about.” She placed her knitting on her lap and patted them both on their heads. “And while using the needles to sword fight is off the table, I can show you the basics on how to knit. Then you can make something for your moms.”

“I wanna make a dragon!” Quan exclaimed.

She smiled apprehensively. “…Uh… let’s start with something a little simpler and see how you go.”


	41. You're so beautiful

The atmosphere on the results from mid-terms was definitely less... _optimistic_ than finals.

Mitsuko held the envelope with her results in it and looked around as her classmates dared to peek at theirs.

“Oh, man…” Sugaya groaned in despair behind her.

She grimaced and looked over her shoulder. “How bad?”

He was crying in anguish. “You don’t want to know…”

Mitsuko cringed. “Oh, crap…” She looked around and saw her classmates with similar looks. “Well, this is off to a great start.”

“Oh, man, this sucks.” Sugino was already preparing to leave to go home.

“Tell me about it.” Kayano sighed loudly. “Those A-Class jerks are probably loving this.”

Nagisa grimaced, looking around. “Hey, where’s Karma?”

“Pretty sure he grabbed his results and bailed,” Mitsuko said, frowning. “He definitely didn’t want any of us seeing his rank after what happened last time.”

Nagisa’s brow furrowed. “Hm…”

Mitsuko sighed as most of the class started to leave, trying to brace herself as she stared at the envelope. “Here we go, I guess…”She slowly pulled out the sheet at the front which displayed her rank—

“Holy shit!” Her whole face lit up.

“What is it?” Rio asked.

Okuda, Takebayashi, and Okajima paused by the door while a few of the others in class such as Fuwa, Kataoka, Isogai, and Mimura looked up from their desks.

“What?” Sugaya was already standing up with his bag on his shoulder. “Is it bad?”

She jumped to her feet and shoved the results in his face. “I ranked seventh place! Look!”

“Whoa!” He stared at the results in surprise. “How’d you do that!?”

She grinned, holding the results close to her test. “I guess all that extra studying my dad forced me to do paid off!” She looked giddy. “It’s higher than the last time as well!”

“Nice work!” Fuwa praised.

“Yeah, good job, Mitsuko,” Okuda said brightly.

Rio smirked and nudged her arm. “See, told you you’d be fine.”

Mitsuko blushed, smiling more. “I’m just happy I’ll finally be able to sleep properly after this.” She sighed in relief. “I was surviving off three to four hours sleep and energy drinks on most days!”

“Uh…” Sugaya looked worried. “I don’t think that’s healthy.”

“Yeah, but who cares!?” Mitsuko laughed, feeling giddy. “This is such a relief.”

“Well, at least someone got a good mark.” Rio patted her on the shoulder. “These midterms were way too brutal—finals are going to be a whole other league.”

“I’m already feeling the pressure!” Kimura exclaimed.

“Hey, we’ll be okay,” Isogai reassured. “Even though we took a hit, a lot of our results were still better than the last midterms.”

“Yeah, we just need to put our all into finals,” Kataoka said.

“And preferably not do parkour outside school?” Mitsuko crossed her arms.

“Heh…” Rio and a number of the others looked sheepish. “Yeah, that too.”

Mitsuko’s smile stayed in place all the way down to the bottom on the mountain with the results held protectively against her chest.

She nearly tripped and skidded down the rest of the slope when she picked up her pace and jumped over a large stone.

She felt a rush of excitement when she saw her brother further up ahead with his friends—a small frown marred her face when she saw they were talking to Nagisa, Okajima, and Sugino and Karma was there as well—but the hesitation faded when she thought about how Gakushuu would react to her mark.

“GAKU-NII!!” She belted, running over with her envelope raised high. “GAKU-NII!!!”

Her brother frowned when he looked over his shoulder along with the others.

Nagisa and Okajima hastily rushed out of the way when she practically barrelled through and tackled her brother into a hug, winding him and nearly sending him falling backwards.

“Can you not?!” Gakushuu yelled, trying to pry her off him while she grinned. “You’re going to break my ribs.”

“Aw, how cute.” Karma smirked from behind, crossing his arms.

Mitsuko grinned and pulled back, holding her results up to view. “Guess who ranked seventh place?” She laughed. “Not bad for E Class right?”

“What?! How come you and Karma ranked so high?” Okajima exclaimed, earning a nudge from Sugino. “Uh, I mean...I guess you weren’t holding back like the rest of us.”

_Wait, what was Karma’s score?_

“Holding back?” Mitsuko looked over at them and raised an eyebrow, earning a sheepish look from Nagisa. “Wait, Karma, what did you get?”

Karma smiled while her brother and his friends glared. “Second Place.”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened. “ _Second place_?” She glanced at her brother and started to understand why he was glaring. “Oh...well, congratulations!” She smiled at him. Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at her. “What? It was a good mark?”

She saw Karma’s smirk grow before he turned to leave. “Thanks. You too.” He stretched and walked away. “Finals should be interesting.”

“Nice job, Mitsuko,” Sugino said, smiling as he, Nagisa, and Okajima started to follow Karma’s lead and walk away.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Nagisa said, while the rest of the Big Five glared at them.

Mitsuko waved at them. “Bye!” She raised an eyebrow at the glares the Big Five were shooting her friends. “You know for students who got top scores you don’t half look miserable.”

“Shut up!” Seo snapped. Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at him, making him yelp. “Uh…I mean….”

She rolled her eyes and looked back at her brother. “So, not a bad result right?” She linked arms with him, smiling.

He stared at her for a moment. “Yes. Congratulations.” His face smoothed out and a small genuine smile was just visible. “I’m impressed.”

She grinned. “I told you to watch out.” She walked with him, stuffing the results under her other arms. “You can bet I’m going to get higher next time as well.” Her smile grew crooked, glancing at Seo and Koyama who glared. “I think I might get into the top five come finals.”

Koyama glared at her. “As if, you're not even in our class anymore!”

"So what?" Her smirk grew as they walked. “You've been shoved out of the top five so many times you shouldn’t even qualify!”

Ren and Araki snorted from laughter while Koyama went red in the face.

“You’re such a bitch!” Koyama scowled.

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. “She does have a point, Koyama, you have been slacking.”

Koyama looked terrified. “Asano-kun!”

Mitsuko laughed and nudged her brother playfully. “Exactly! Just kick him out already.”

"I wouldn't complain," Ren commented, gaining a glare from Koyama. "I think we could use a girl in our ranks," he said sweetly, stroking her cheek with the back of knuckles. "Such gentle female graces would be a welcomed gift."

Mitsuko glared at him. "That's not charming, Ren." She tripped him up, sending him stumbling into Araki. "And it's kind of gross."

"Ah!" Ren barrelled into Araki. 

"Hey!" The green-haired boy fell against the metal fence. 

Gakushuu sighed in exasperation, not even bothering to look over his shoulder. "Will you idiots stop messing around and hurry up."

"It's not our fault!" Araki complained, pointing at her accusingly. 

Ren looked like he'd sob. "Mitsuko, why are you so mean!?"

She smiled sweetly and looked up at her brother who was failing to hide a small smirk. 

* * *

Mitsuko practically skipped down the street to the next high street shop while Gakushuu reluctantly trailed behind her carrying the two bags of shopping she’d already purchased.

“Can we go home already?” He was glaring, but she didn’t let it bother her.

She smiled at him sweetly as they entered the large shop which was full of bright colours and smelled like flower perfume. “Mom said I could buy as much as I wanted because of my grades—we’re not done until my autumn wardrobe is complete!” She adjusted the red scarf around his neck when it started to fall, tucking it into the loose woollen collar of his grey trench coat. “And don’t lose this scarf, I spent hours knitting it!”

“I’ll burn it if you keep dragging me around to another shop.” He slipped the bags into one hand and whacked her hand away. “When you said you wanted to do more things together, this isn’t what I agreed to.”

“You once made me spend four hours helping you buy a _tie_. You’re not allowed to complain.” She rolled her eyes, heading to a rack of the newest designs. “Besides, I’m nearly done.” She held up a red cocktail dress in front of her and looked in the mirror on the wall. “What do you think?”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s too much red.”

Her brow furrowed. “But it’s autumn…”

Gakushuu sighed. “You’ll regret it.” He put the bags down and looked through the rack. “Mix it with grey or black—it’ll balance.” He held up a dress with a black top and skewed red bottom colouring.

Mitsuko scowled and compared the two. “I’m trying both.” She yanked the dress from him. “Then we’ll see.”

He crossed his arms. “You know I’m right.”

“Not always.” She put both dresses on her arm. “I’ll try them on—can you check if they have any new boots in. Make sure they’re leather this time; the last ones were cheap knock-offs and I don’t care what that manager said.”

Her brother narrowed his eyes. “What am I, your valet?”

Mitsuko grinned. “No, valets get paid, silly!” She hummed pleasantly to herself while she left him to stew.

The changing rooms were empty and there hadn’t been anyone at the entrance, so she’d just walked in.

Mitsuko frowned when she tried on the black and red dress first. “Damn.” She scowled, putting her hands on her hips. “He might be right…it does look good.”

She stripped it off quickly and moved to try on the red dress. “Let’s just make sure.” She slipped on the red dress and frowned when it was a bit of struggle to zip it up since it was tight around her chest. “Ugh…” She touched her arms which had gained some more muscle over the last few months with all the extra sports and assassination training. “Great…”

She peaked her head around the curtain to see if there was a salesgirl at the front, but there still wasn’t anyone at the entrance. She frowned, opening the curtain fully. 

“ _Mom_!”

Mitsuko froze when _Nagisa_ suddenly appeared—or was more or less shoved—into the changing room.

_What the hell!?”_

_Why the fuck was Nagisa of all people here? It was a girls store!_

“Just hurry up!” A woman snapped from the entrance, just out of view. "I don't want to hear another word."

“This isn’t allowed—I’m a boy!” he hissed, bent over holding a crumbled heap of something a garish pink. “Someone—“

Blue eyes met hers in complete horror as everything seemed to still.

Mitsuko couldn’t do anything but stare at him as her gaze was drawn back to the pink bundle he was trying so hard to keep hidden in his arms, like a magnetic pull.

_Was he…was he holding a dress?!_

“N-Nagisa?” Mitsuko finally blurted out.

Nagisa hunched his shoulders and curled in on himself. “I…”

“What is—oh.” A woman dark blue hair and similar features to, what could only be her son, noticed the third occupant in the changing room.

“Uh…” Mitsuko stared at them both in shock and confusion. “I’m…uh…h-hi?”

Nagisa’s mom stared at her for a while until a pleasant smile spread across her face. “Oh, hello!” She shifted some hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we know each other?” She placed a hand on Nagisa’s head. “Are you one of Nagisa’s friends from school?”

“I…Yes! Sorry.” Mitsuko quickly recovered to remember her manners, bowing her head. “I'm Asano Mitsuko—I…um.” She raised her head. “Yes, I’m Nagisa’s friend from school…um…”

“Oh!” His mom’s smile grew. “ _Asano!_ Yes, your father is the Principal. Your photo is in the school welcome pamphlet. I barely recognised you!”

Mitsuko barely held back a grimace. “Uh, yeah…” She forced a smile. “Well I was twelve when they took the photo, so it’s been a few years.”

“Yes, I can see that…” Nagisa’’s mom raised an eyebrow at the tight fit of the dress, making Mitsuko’s face flush red. “I didn’t know my Nagisa had such pretty friends.” Her gaze sharpened when she looked down at him. “Why bring around those boys when you have such nice female company?!”

Nagisa ducked his head like she'd hit him. “…I…”

“I’m pretty busy on most days,” Mitsuko quickly said. “I have a lot of clubs and studying so I don’t get to visit my friends much after school.”

_It was mostly true._

His mom’s gaze softened. “Oh, of course. I can imagine.” Her smile grew. “You should come round for lunch!”

“Mom, no—“ Nagisa face scrunched up in pain suddenly when his mom gave his hair a tug.

Mitsuko’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking, sweetie,” his mom said pleasantly while she stared at Mitsuko, but there was something dark and not right in her gaze which reminded her too much of the Principal. “ _Please_ , I insist.”

_Just say no!_

“Uh….” Mitsuko gave a strained laugh. “But my brother is waiting in the store.” Nagisa looked horrified. “So, we really should get going…um…” She stared at Nagisa and the fingers that were digging into his hair and felt a rising concern start to overwhelm her. “I…”

_Would Nagisa get in trouble if I don't go?!_

“Your brother’s welcomed to join if you’d like,” Nagisa’s mom proposed brightly, very noticeably digging her nails further into Nagisa’s skull.

Mitsuko started to sweat. “Uh…”

* * *

“Here we are!”

Mitsuko stared numbly as a set of small basic appetisers was set down in front of her and Gakushuu while Nagisa was sat opposite with his mother.

_How the fuck had this happened!?_

“I hope you like your tea!” Nagisa’s mom—Hiromi—blew on her tea.

“…Thank you,” Mitsuko said politely, taking her tea off the tray.

Gakushuu looked like he was being held prisoner. “Yes. _Thank you_.”

Nagisa looked like he had left his body and wasn’t even mentally present.

“I’m so glad you agreed to visit,” Hiromi said brightly as she sipped her tea.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Mitsuko replied dully, mouthing an apology to her brother when the woman wasn’t looking.

 _I am so sorry I dragged us all into this!_ She wanted to scream.

Gakushuu shot her a glare which communicated more than enough that she owed him big time for this.

“This is lovely tea, Mrs Shiota,” Gakushuu said charmingly, the glare gone the minute Hiromi looked his way.

Something dark flashed in her gaze, but it was gone in seconds. “Please, it’s just _Ms._ ”

_Okay, wow, I’m guessing it was a messy divorce?_

“Oh, my apologies,” Gakushuu replied, glancing at his sister warily.

“No apology necessary!” Hiromi drank some tea. “You’re such polite children, it’s such a lovely change from the usual friends Nagisa brings by.”

Mitsuko tried to imagine Karma sat here drinking tea quietly and the whole image seemed odd.

“...Thank you?” she wasn’t sure what to say. She looked over at Nagisa but he had remained disturbingly quiet since they sat down. “I’m sorry, but would I be able to use your bathroom?”

“Oh, yes of course. It’s just down the hall.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at his mom. “Uh, Nagisa?” She watched his head jerk up in alarm. “Maybe you could show me?”

"Uh..." Nagisa stood up. “Yeah, sure.”

Gakushuu discreetly shot Mitsuko a glare which seemed indicate he’d murder her later for leaving him alone with this woman.

Mitsuko smiled apologetically at her brother before following Nagisa out of the kitchen.

As soon as they were both inside the bathroom she shut the door behind them.

“What the fuck is going on?” Mitsuko whispered.

“Nothing,” Nagisa whispered, frowning. “I’m sorry she dragged you into this…” He grimaced, looking down. “She can just be really eager about me making friends…”

“I’m not on about that,” she hissed. “Though it is a big creep factor, I’m not going to lie,” she muttered and then shook her head. “I mean, what was the whole thing in the changing rooms. They don’t even have a Men’s sections.”

“My mom was buying dresses,” he replied quickly, his skin looked clammy in the bathroom lights. “She wanted my opinion so that’s why she was shoving me in there.”

Mitsuko frown. “Oh…”

 _Well, that did make sense and it would explain the dress in his arms_.

“Yeah!” He looked embarrassed. “She does it all the time. It’s really gross.”

“I can imagine…” Mitsuko’s frown deepened. “Okay, but what about the rest.” Her eyes narrowed. “She was hurting you, and don’t lie and say she wasn’t.”

Nagisa grimaced, keeping his gaze low. “…It’s not that bad.”

Her gut twisted. “Nagisa…”

“It’s really not that bad,” he repeated, looking at her this time. “You…you know how parents can be…”

Mitsuko cringed, touching the back of her head where her dad had grabbed her that night. “Exactly, which is why I’m worried…” She rubbed her neck. “Look, I’m the last person who should be saying this, but if you’re in trouble—“

“I’m not,” Nagisa said quickly. “Honestly. It’s fine. I’m fine.” His gaze grew pleading. “Really, it’s okay. I promise.”

She felt uneasy. “And if it wasn’t fine would you tell me?”

He hesitated. “Yes, of course.”

Her chest tightened. “Nagisa…” She took a deep breath. “After everything I told you guys about my dad and what he’s done to me, you could at least do me the favour of not lying to my face.”

Nagisa’s face fell, and his gaze filled with guilt. “…I’m sorry.” His head lowered slightly, hunching in on himself again. “I just…I can’t talk about it. Not now, it’s…it’s complicated.”

Mitsuko sighed softly, knowing it wasn’t fair to pry the answers from him if he wasn’t ready. “Okay…I get it. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

His face relaxed in relief. “Thanks.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled grimly and pulled him into a hug. “Your mom’s tea is awful by the way.”

A tiny burst of laughter came out, but he quickly tried to smother it. “I know.”

“It’s true.” Mitsuko said, pulling away. “And that’s something considering what my dad made.”

Nagisa smiled warmly and waited for her to flush the toilet to add something to the illusion that she had gone to the bathroom.

The two of them headed back into the kitchen where Gakushuu looked ready to hurl the teacup at Ms Shiota; the smile on his face was tight.

“Oh, there you are!” Hiromi smiled at them when they sat back down. “We were just discussing the Principal, he seems like such an interesting man!”

“What took you so long?” Gakushuu’s voice was clipped and barely held back his frustration.

“Sorry!” Mitsuko gave a forced laugh. “Um…You have a lovely home, by the way, Ms Shiota.”

The apartment was nicely decorated, although a little basic.

“Thank you, that’s very sweet of you.” Hiromi’s gaze shifted to Mitsuko brightly coloured shopping bags. “Oh, would it be alright if I asked what you bought? I recognise the brand.”

“Oh, yeah, okay.” Mitsuko frowned when she saw Nagisa’s hands tremble faintly on the table. “Um, it’s just a few dresses and shoes.” She reached for the shopping.

“Only dresses,” something was weird about her voice.

“…Uh, yeah, just dresses.” Mitsuko forced a smile. “I don’t really wear anything else unless I’m doing sports or outdoors in nature or something.” She shrugged. Taking out the blue summer dress she’d bought.

“Nagisa, help her show them, they’re our guests,” Hiromi snapped at her son, making everyone else tense.

Mitsuko shared a looked with her brother, wondering what the hell was going on.

“Right…” Nagisa slowly stood up and wandered to Mitsuko side.

“Um.” Mitsuko handed him the dress to hold and then grabbed another one. “There’s only really three…”

“Hold it up so we can see, Nagisa,” Hiromi’s voice was clipped.

Nagisa was holding the dress as far away from himself as possible, not meeting Mitsuko’s gaze.

“Oh, that’s lovely!” Hiromi’s voice was pleasant again, making Mitsuko wonder if she was bi-polar.

“Thanks…” Mitsuko replied uncertainly, taking the dress from Nagisa so she could give him the red and black one.

“They’re both so lovely,” Nagisa’s mom stood up and walked over, touching the fabric of the dress. “Aren’t they pretty, Nagisa?”

“…Yeah.” His voice was soft and feeble.

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably and then tensed when his mom looked at her.

“You have such wonderful taste!” Hiromi smiled at her and then to her alarm she reached out and lifted up some ends of her hair. “And you have such beautiful hair, it’s even softer than Nagisa’s!”

“Mom…” Nagisa looked worried, which didn’t reassure Mitsuko.

“Uh…Thank you,” Mitsuko said quietly, looking up at her warily.

_What the hell was happening right now?_

“So beautiful...” Something dark flashed in Hiromi’s gaze, fingers tightening around the strands. “If I’d had a daughter, I would have loved her to have hair like this…”

It made her skin crawl.

Mitsuko cringed. “That’s…so nice of you to say.” Hiromi was staring at her with dark eyes and was curling her fingers so tightly in the strawberry blond strands like she wanted to yank it off. “Um…”

“Is that the time!?” Gakushuu bolted to his feet and placed his hands on his sister’s shoulders, trying to discreetly tug her away. “We better be leaving—our parents are expecting us back and we wouldn’t want them to worry.”

“Yes!” Mitsuko said, nodding. “That’s right! They’re _super paranoid_ about that curfew! One minute late and wham!” She clapped her fist into her hand. “The whole Tokyo police force is called out!”

The dark look vanished from Hiromi’s gaze and was replaced with a smile. “Of course!” Her hand slacked, releasing the strands from her fingers. “Thank you so much for visiting, I’ll have Nagisa invite you over more often.”

Gakushuu gave a forced smile. “That’s so generous of you.” He manoeuvred in front of Mitsuko. “We’ll be sure to take that up in the future when we’re free.”

“Yes, absolutely!” Mitsuko hastily accepted the bags from Nagisa when he handed them over. “Thank you so much, again!”

Hiromi smiled and waved. “It was no trouble at all.”

Gakushuu grabbed Mitsuko’s arm as Nagisa practically pushed them towards the door.

“I’m so sorry…” Nagisa whispered under his breath when they were out of the door. “Bye.”

The door was hurried shut with a click of the lock, leaving Mitsuko and Gakushuu outside on the open balcony to the other apartments.

Mitsuko looked over at her brother. “I am so sorry I forced you through that.”

“Never complain about my friends, ever again,” He whispered fiercely as the two of them hurried as far away from the apartment as possible. 


	42. A Jerk Move

Mitsuko gritted her teeth as she dodged Karma’s attack during the sparring match in physical Education.

“Stop trying to poke me in the eye with that!” she snapped.

Karma grinned and blocked her kick that was aimed at his face. “Aw, but where would be the fun in that!”

She swiped his shoulder with the rubber knife, just hitting skin. “Why are you so annoying?”

He slipped out of the way and smirked. “Well, you and your brother are pretty easy to rile up.” He grabbed her wrist and twisted. “Nothing wrong with a little rivalry.”

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes and slipped her foot behind his. “Oh, absolutely.” She swiped his feet from underneath him, sending him backwards onto the grass. “Especially when there’s a clear loser!”

Karma grabbed her ankle and yanked her to the ground. “Or not.”

She winced when she hit the dirt. “ _Seriously_?!”

He grinned and casually sat on her back, pinning her. “Gotta keep your guard up!”

Mitsuko blew some hair out of her face. “You’re such a prick.” She tried to reach around to shove him off. “Okay, fine, _I yield_.”

“Oh! But we still have unfinished business,” he said, confusing her.

“What are you—? Get that Wasabi out of my face!” She yelled when he dangled the tube in front of her. “Karma!!”

“But I warned you, remember?” Karma teased, twisting the nozzle of the tube off while she tried to kick him. “I told you not to upset, Nakamura.”

“Mr Karasuma!!” Mitsuko screamed when Karma shoved the tube of wasabi up her nose. “SENSEI!!”

Her nostrils burned. 

Karma laughed as the students looked over.

“Karma!” Mr Karasuma marched over. “Enough!”

Mitsuko yanked the wasabi out when Karma got off her. “For fuck sake, Karma!”

“Hey, I warned you.” The red-headed devil teased, grinning.

“What are you guys doing?” Rio asked, raising an eyebrow.

Nagisa sighed. “ _Karma_ …”

“I’m going to kill you!” Mitsuko lunged at the red-head, jumping onto his back, trying to strangle him.

“Guys, come on!” Isogai sighed in exasperation.

“Oh, man! Someone get a video!” Maehara burst out laughing with the others as Mr Karasuma tried to yank Mitsuko off Karma.

Mitsuko screamed in frustration as she was pulled off the demon of a classmate. Karasuma yanked her by her collar with one hand while he held Karma by the other. 

“I said, _Enough_!”

“Let me go!” She still reached out to try to throttle the red-haired bastard when he stuck his tongue out. “Just one punch, that’s all I’m asking for!”

A vein throbbed on Mr Karasuma’s forehead. “That’s it.” He put his hands on their shoulders to keep them apart. “Mitsuko, go inside and clean up. Karma, you can go clean the equipment shed until the lesson is over.” Their teacher’s gaze narrowed. “Do you both hear me?”

Mitsuko glared at Karma who just laughed.

“Yes, sir!” they both said with low and high degrees of enthusiasm.

Mr Karasuma sighed and let them both go. “Then march to it.”

Rio whacked Karma over the head while he passed, making him chuckle. “He can be a little too much at times.” The blond smiled at her. “You okay?”

Mitsuko grumbled under her breath, wiping her nose when it continued to burn. “Besides my nose burning?” She waved her fist at Karma. “I’ll get you back for this!”

Karma grinned and stuck his tongue out as he walked away.

* * *

Bitch-sensei thought the whole thing was hilarious.

“It’s not funny,” Mitsuko grumbled.

“I don’t know.” Bitch-sensei smirked, twirling in her teacher’s chair as she handed Mitsuko another cloth to wipe her very pink nose. “It looks pretty funny to me.”

Mitsuko scowled, sniffling. “I’ll shove an anti-sensei knife up his butt.”

The teacher laughed. “Now I’d like to see that.” She smirked. “But be careful Nakamura doesn’t get jealous.”

“Why would...?” Mitsuko frowned briefly but then started to gag when she realised what Bitch-sensei was implying. “EW! That’s disgusting!”

Bitch-sensei winked. “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

“You’re so gross.” Mitsuko wrinkled her nose.

“Why did he do it anyway?” Bitch-sensei asked, picking up her nail filer.

“Well…” Mitsuko sniffed, wiping her nose. “It’s because I upset Rio at the summer festival…which he warned me to not do or else he’d shove wasabi up my nose…”

Bitch-sensei smirked. “Well, it looks like he’s a man of his word.”

“Yeah, I gathered.” She rolled her eyes, leaning back in the chair.

Bitch-sensei’s smirk grew coy. “So, how are things between you two lovebirds?”

“They’re going fine.” Mitsuko shrugged, blushing faintly. “We’re just…we’re staying friends right now because we don’t want to rush into anything.” She sighed. “And then there’s the whole thing with her grandmother, which is going to be unpleasant…but I promised her I’d be there.”

“Well, good look.” Bitch-sensei filed her nails. “It’ll earn you brownie points at least.” She frowned at her. “But don’t wait too long. We’re in October, kid, you haven’t got long left.”

“I’m not just going to be her girlfriend because the world may end,” Mitsuko replied impatiently. “That’s not a good reason to start a relationship…”

“Well, dying alone isn’t a nice option either,” Bitch-sensei’s expression soured a little. “If I wasn’t stuck on this mountain, I’d have one of my sugar daddies keeping me company...”

“…Ew.” Mitsuko grimaced at the thought, but then brightened when she remembered something. “Wait, I almost forgot.” She grabbed her bag off the floor. “It’s your birthday tomorrow.”

Bitch-sensei froze, watching her warily. “Yeah, and…?”

“And…” Mitsuko grinned, taking out a small neatly wrapped present. “I got you something!” She placed the square box on the desk and slid it over. “Go ahead and open it!”

Bitch-sensei was silent for a while, staring at the prettily wrapt gift in surprise. “You…you got me a present?”

“Well, yeah, it’s your birthday.” Mitsuko smirked. “Besides, you were nice enough to invite me around for coffees all those times—your Frappuccino machine and apartments are quite nice by the way.”

Hesitantly, Bitch-sensei reached out and took the lid off the purple box. “Right…oh.” She lifted up a small silver ring with a round opal stone on the top. “This is nice.”

“And it’s not just a ring!” Mitsuko looked excited, rushing to show her. “It was really hard to find, but Ritsu helped me track one down—you can use it to poison people, see!”

“What?!” Bitch-sensei nearly dropped the box.

“Look, this part lifts up.” Mitsuko lifted up the stone to show a small compartment inside. “And you can use that sharp needle inside to dip the poison and then stab someone with it—pretty cool right?”

“Oh, wow!” Bitch-sensei started to look impressed, slipping the ring on. “You even got the right finger size as well!”

Mitsuko blushed. “I wanted to make sure I got it right.” She smiled sheepishly. “Um, it’s not too much is it…?”

“What? No.” The hesitance faded from her gaze. “I’m just surprised you were this…thorough.” She tapped her chin. “I’m also kind of torn between pride and concern that you and Ritsu found a poisonous ring so quickly but…” She smirked. “What Karasuma doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” 

Mitsuko’s smile grew. “I’m glad you like it. I wanted to get you something useful…”

“Well, thanks.” Bitch-sensei fiddled with the ring, she looked at her for a moment before looking down. “It’s nice.”

“It’s no problem.” Mitsuko’s smile twitched when she realised Bitch-sensei seemed to find the whole thing uncomfortable. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Bitch-sensei grabbed her pack of cigarettes. “Teacher just needs a quick smoke before lessons start.”

“Oh…” Mitsuko frowned, watching her stand up. “Well, you better not give anyone second-hand smoke!”

Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes and already had a cigarette in her mouth. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

* * *

Breakfast was quiet like usual that morning, but Mitsuko did notice mom was being fidgety and kept glancing at them while they were eating.

Mitsuko chewed on some toast while she checked her messages on her phone.

 ** **:Bitchsensei was pissed!:**** Sugaya texted.

****:What?! Why what happened? DETAILS PLEASE?!:** **

She nibbled on her toast while she waited for him to respond.

****:MR K Messed up!:** **

****:How?!:** **

****:Basically said:**** Then he texted a few second later. ****:ThEy cant be A coUple!:****

 ** **:WHAAAAT!?:**** Mitsuko scowled and texted back furiously and sent an Angry Emoji ****:That asshole!!:****

He sent a shrug Emoji along with the text. ** **:Yeah. Kinda a jerk move:****

Then mom cleared her throat. “I have an announcement.”

Mitsuko paused, frowning when she looked up and dad stopped typing on his laptop, looking over, while Gakushuu raised an eyebrow at their mom who was folding away her apron.

“It’s exciting news.” Mom came around and sat down at the table.

Gakushuu looked horrified. “Please tell me you’re not pregnant.”

Mitsuko nearly choked on her toast but quickly drank some water.

“What? No!” Mom looked at their dad who had raised an eyebrow. “Your father had a vasectomy so that’s not possible.”

“Oh, God!!” Mitsuko actually choked and started coughing desperately for air.

Gakushuu quickly got up and patted her on the back hard to clear her airways.

Mitsuko spat the toast out and panted, massaging her throat. “Dad…Dad got a _vasectomy_?!”

Their father sighed and sipped his juice. “Yes. Now are you quite done, Mitsuko?”

She took a deep breath and leaned back. “Yeah…sorry, it’s just….I really feel we didn’t need to know that detail.”

“Agreed,” Gakushuu said grimly, sitting back down.

Mom rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Anyway…” Her smile was hesitant around the edges. “I wanted to announce that...I have a job interview in two days.”

_Wait, what?_

Mitsuko exchanged a surprised look with her brother before she glanced at their dad who looked like this was fresh news to him.

“You have a job interview?” Dad repeated evenly, frowning at their mom. “In two days?”

“Yes! There was an advert for a small accounting job, most of its just bookkeeping.” Mom’s smile was wide, looking over at Mitsuko and Gakushuu. “It’s only part time, and the company is small, but they seemed nice over the phone and—“

“I wasn’t aware you were looking for work.” Dad’s voice was calm, closing the laptop as he stared at his wife intently. “This is all very sudden.”

Mom’s smile cracked and started to look more like a grimace. “Well, I wanted to surprise you all.” Her smile was sweet again. “And I wanted to wait until I actually got an interview.”

“Why accounting?” Gakushuu asked, watching her curiously.

“It’s what I studied before I got married,” she replied. “I did graduate so it’s a valid degree,” she explained somewhat defensively.

“Did you work anywhere after the degree?” Mitsuko asked.

“Well, not really…” Mom’s smile twitched, scrunching up her apron in her hands. “I had you two so soon after we got married so…” Looked away briefly, like she was remembering something. “But I did a lot of summer internships during my first two years at university,” she said quickly, smiling again. “So I have some experience and I always did the bookkeeping for your father’s cram school before…well, while you were both little.”

 _That was a large career gap, it was a miracle they’d even given her an interview,_ Mitsuko thought, wondering how many jobs her mom had applied for before one gave her a chance.

“Oh, well…” Mitsuko quickly smiled. “Congratulations, Mom! That’s great news.” She kicked her brother under the table.

Gakushuu grimaced briefly before smiling. “ _Yes_ , congratulations…”

“Thank you…” Mom cleared her throat and looked at her husband expectantly.

Dad stared at her blankly for a while. “It’s certainly interesting news,” he said lightly. “I’m just curious why you would feel a need to work when you’ve said yourself that you have so much work to do at home.”

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably, watching her parents carefully.

“I just feel that it’s something that could be enjoyable.” Mom’s smile was tight, fiddling with the folded apron on her lap. “And since I’m not going out as much, I actually have quite a lot of free time so…” The smiled faded. “Why, do you not want me to go?”

Dad reached out and held mom’s hand under the table. “I’m just thinking of the timing with the children’s education.” His voice was low and soft, but their mom was visibly tense. “And the amount of stress it could cause you having juggle both—“

Mom leapt to her feet and threw her apron at his chest. “Why can’t you just support me!?” She screamed at him with fat tears gathered in her eyes. “You always spoil everything! You always…”

“Mayumi, Calm down.” Dad stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I just think now isn’t a practical time, and why would you even want to—?“

“Shut up!” Mom gave him a hard push strong enough to make him step back in surprise.

Mitsuko watched worriedly when her mom gave a sob and ran out of the kitchen, leaving their dad staring at an empty space in the kitchen.

No one spoke as mom’s sobs grew fainter until there was a loud slam of the door upstairs.

“Well, that went well,” Gakushuu remarked dryly.

“ _Yeah_.” Mitsuko glared at the Principal. “ _Wow,_ nice job, dad.”

Dad’s eyes narrowed at them briefly before his expression grew calm. “Finish your breakfast and go to school,” he instructed them coldly, before heading out of the kitchen to presumably follow after their mother.

* * *

“So Professor Bitch hasn’t called you either?” Sugaya asked as they sat in class during the break. 

Mitsuko grimaced, staring at her phone. “No, I haven’t heard anything…” She looked over at Yada. “Any luck?” ** **  
****"No good," Yada said, sighing as she lowered the phone from her ear. "I can't get through."

Mitsuko frowned. “So, what, she just stormed out after talking to Mr Karasuma?”

Yada nodded. “She looked really upset…”

"There's no sign of her on GPS or public surveillance cameras," Ritsu explained form her main unit.

"She wouldn't leave over something like this, would she?" Chiba worried.  
  
A man with silver hair, holding a bouquet, casually walked in. "That's not it. There's still something you need her to do."

"Right?" Okano smiled. "And besides, it's fun having her around."

Mitsuko felt the hairs on her neck stand up.

 _Wait…_  
  
"Yes, you've bonded quite nicely, you and her." He walked to the teacher's podium. "My preliminary research has already verified that much. All I'll do is exploit that."

_What the hell?_

Mitsuko tensed, sitting up straighter in her chair as she stared at the strange man who had just walked in without raising any alarm bells.

_How did…?_

Like a spell broken, everyone in class grew on the edge and stared at the man like he’d suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The man with silver hair smiled at them politely. "I'm the assassin known as the Reaper," he said brightly. "And now I have a lesson for you all."

* * *

Mitsuko hurriedly assembled and put on the new training gear the government had issued them all.

“You sure you can handle the parkour run?” Ritsu said from her phone on the bed. “You’re still behind in practice.”

“I’ll be okay.” Mitsuko lowered her hood. “Sugaya’s been helping me catch up…” She picked up the phone. “Speaking of which, is he on his way?”

Ritsu nodded. “He should be landing on the roof next door in the next five minutes.”

“Okay.” Mitsuko took a deep breath and checked the time, it was already 5pm. “Curfew is at 8pm, so we should be able to wrap this up by then right?”

“Uh…” Ritsu looked unsure. “I’m not sure the Reaper works on that kind of timescale…”

She groaned, clutching her phone tight. “If my parents find out I disobeyed curfew my mom will flip…I could get grounded, or worse!”

“I’m sure it won’t come to that!” Ritsu tried to reassure. “Everything will work out.” She smiled brightly. “We’ll rescue Bitch-sensei and be home before it even gets too late.”

Mitsuko sighed deeply. “Right…” She hesitated, feeling uneasy. “I’m just worried, this whole thing seems off, like really off.” Her brow furrowed. “I mean, Bitch-sensei might not be a fighter, but getting captured like this seems…not in character.” She sighed. “Do you get what I mean?”

Ritsu frowned, looking away. “From what records I gained access to, she has been captured before.”

“And how many of those times did she need rescuing?” Mitsuko asked.

“…Good point.” Ritsu rubbed her chin. “But, she’s not invulnerable and if she was caught off guard and upset like Yada said then it makes sense that the Reaper was able to take her by surprise.”

Mitsuko’s frown deepened. “That’s true but—“

A text alert came on the screen from Sugaya.

****:I'm outside. On roof:** **

Mitsuko grimaced, feeling torn. She couldn’t jeopardise the whole mission just on one wild theory which had no proof backing it…

And, what if Bitch-sensei really was in danger?

“Nevermind. Let’s just get her back.” She sighed, shaking her head and tucked the phone in her pocket and walked over to the window.

It was a bit tricky getting onto the roof, and she may have nearly fallen off, but once she was there maintaining balance wasn’t that hard.

She looked up when she heard a whistle up ahead.

“Come on!” Sugaya called from the roof opposite, already with Kimura and Fuwa.

Mitsuko took a deep breath and picked up a run, feeling a spike of adrenaline when she jumped from her roof to the one next door.

“Nice!” Fuwa winked. “Now come on! We have a rescue mission!” She announced before heading off.

“Try to keep up!” Kimura teased, following after Fuwa.

Sugaya shot her a smile. “I’ll try to make sure you don’t fall and break your legs.”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and picked up the pace to keep up with them. “If anyone’s falling off and breaking their legs it’s you.”

They both leapt over the gap in-between the houses.

Mitsuko’s brow furrowed, staying light on her feet as she avoided slips in the walls and roofs they ran across, it was like the whole city had become one urban jungle like on the cliffs of the mountain.

Until finally, they made it to the co-ordinates the Reaper had sent across.

Mitsuko paused when the saw the concrete looking compound, it was small, which could indicate a lot of it was underground. She grimaced. That left a lot of unknowns.

“You okay?” Sugaya asked, sounding a little out of breath as they stood on top of the brick wall that overlooked the location.

“Yeah…” Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at the compound. “Just nerves.” She glanced at him apprehensively. “Does any of this seem weird to you?”

“You mean besides the flower shop guy turning out to be a legendary assassin?” Sugaya asked dryly. “As weird goes, I think this is a whole new bar for us.”

She sighed. “No, not that…though that opens a whole other set of questions.” Mitsuko stared at the compound. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”

“Hey, guys come on,” Mimura whispered from the bottom of the wall. “The others are waiting.”

Sugaya glanced at her and shrugged. “You coming?”

Mitsuko grimaced, unable to shake the uneasy feeling which was growing worse. “Yeah, I’m coming.” She slipped down the wall to join her classmates.

* * *

“Hurry up!” Terasaka hissed as they manoeuvred through the grey halls, trying to locate Bitch-sensei.

Mitsuko followed next to Yada. “The others are only going to be able to keep that weirdo distracted for long.”

Yada nodded. “We need to move fast if we’re going to get Bitch-sensei after here.”

Mitsuko looked around the dark tunnels. “Everything about this looks like it was planned out up until the last detail.”

Kataoka nodded, looking over her shoulder. “Who knows how long he’s been watching us.”

Kurahashi grimaced. “Yuck! It’s so gross how nice he was!”

Itona frowned, following behind Mitsuko. “His patience is impressive, especially considering how long he was able to hide his bloodlust.”

Mitsuko’s thoughts drifted to her dad and then Nagisa. “Yeah…”

“Okay, I think this is it!” Okano called from up ahead, pointing at a large safe door.

Mitsuko stopped. “That’s…did he really hide he rin a safe?”

“Come on!” Yada said, hurrying over.

Terasaka pushed it open and Kataoka walked in and cried out. "Bitch-sensei!"

Irina was wearing lingerie and her arms were tied to the ceiling by a rope.

"She's breathing!" Okuda said as they cut her down.

"Take care of Bitch-sensei," Kataoka told Terasaka.

"Why do I always gotta do the dirty work?" he complained, picking her up.

"Okay, let's rendezvous with the rest and get out of here!"

Mitsuko felt a rise of concern as she slowly trying to get closer. “Is she drugged?”

"Got it! Gee, I'm sure glad Bitch-sensei is all right," Kurahashi said, rushing over to her. “Isn’t this great, Mitsuko!”

"Right?" Yada agreed, smiling brightly.

_Why doesn’t it feel like a victory then?_

Mitsuko frowned, feeling like this wasn’t adding up. “Well, yeah it—“

Two loud thuds sounded out.

Mitsuko felt herself and Kurahashi both stiffen at the noise.

Bitch-sensei was holding a gun, stood above the slumped bodies of Terasaka, Okuda and Kataoka.

Yada covered her mouth in horror. "Bitch...sensei?"

Their teacher smiled. "Ah. I've been asleep for almost six months. But now I'm awake - thanks to him."

“What?” Mitsuko felt nauseous, staring at the extremely out of place yet not completely, smile on her teacher’s face. “What are you doing?”

Bitch-sensei smiled darkly. "Now to put you out of commission—" Suddenly, she yelped and grabbed her foot. "Ow! I stepped on a rock barefoot!"

Mitsuko scowled. “Seriously?”

Okajima knelt down. "Sheesh. You oka-"

Mitsuko didn’t even see it, as a cold stick of metal hit her throat. “You…” She felt a rush of anger when she saw Bitch-sensei’s smile as her knees gave way and collapsed on the floor. “Fucking…Bitch.”

The world turned dark within seconds. 


	43. You have to try

Irina Jelavic was a massive bitch of all bitches and Mitsuko hated her!

Mitsuko scowled, curled up with her knees as she was held in a cage with the rest of her classmates and Koro-sensei.

Everything was and felt like complete shit to the point she couldn’t even bring herself to care when Karasuma came with the Reaper and Massive-traitor-traitor-Bitchsensei in tow.

“Uh, Mitsu?” Rio whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You doing okay?”

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and glared at the ground.

_The Reaper was talking about killing them and…and Bitch-sensei didn’t even care!_

"Here's how the government sees it,” Karasuma said evenly.

The sound that followed after sounded very much like a hard punch.

Mitsuko frowned and looked over her shoulder.

Karasuma stood protectively in front of the class, fist raised. "The lives of 27 people are weightier than the Earth." He straightened and swiftly loosened his tie. "If you plan on killing them too..." There was something fiercely protective in his voice. "I'll stop you."

"Mr Karasuma!" several of the students said.

Mitsuko’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw their teacher stand his ground for them when the odds weren’t in his favour.

"S-so cool!" Koro-sensei stuttered. Kurahashi was shown with hearts for eyes.

"And I'll tell you this, Irina." Bitch-sensei's eyes widened fractionally. Karasuma pulled his suit jacket off and let it fall to the floor. "Being a pro isn't quite so carefree."

Reaper was smiling widely and dashed out of the room. Karasuma and the class gasped.

"I don't think so!" Karasuma shouted. He quickly followed after him.

"Mr Karasuma!" Koro-sensei called as the Reaper disappeared through the entrance. "Turn on your transceiver!"

Bitch-sensei smiled. "Hmph. How rash." She undid her collar and twirled it on her finger.

Mitsuko’s eyes narrowed, feeling a burning hot rage build.

"Karasuma may stand apart from others, but he goes even further.” Bitch-sensei turned her nose up arrogantly. “Just look at how he trapped that octopus."

"Bitch-sensei..." Yada murmured.

“Shut your mouth!!” Mitsuko yelled at her once favourite teacher, bolting to her feet to touch the bars. “That asshole isn’t worth shit, and you're worth even less!”

“Mitsuko!” Koro-sensei chastised while the class watched in surprise.

Bitch-sensei stiffened, staring at her in alarm. “Listen, brat—“

“No! Don’t even say another word!” Mitsuko shouted, barely holding back tears. “You don’t get to act like this after everything you—you made being a bitch something to be proud of, and we…I actually _liked_ you! I thought you were amazing and you…” She trailed off when her voice hitched.

“Mitsuko…” Koro-sensei tried to reach out, but she whacked his tentacle away.

Bitch-sensei grimaced, her hands clenched into fists as her gaze lowered. “I…” A beeping sound rang. She sighed and pressed her fingers against her ear, turning away from them.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished!” Mitsuko yelled, but Bitch-sensei had already grabbed her gun.

“What do you want me to say, brat?” Bitch-sensei looked at her grimly. “It is what it is.” She raised her gun and ran towards the gap in the wall where the Reaper had disappeared to.

“HEY!” Mitsuko yelled. “You know what!? You’re the worst kind of bitch. In fact, you don’t deserve the title of a teacher—You’re a, you’re a TRAITOR-BITCH!!”

But, Bitch-sensei had gone, leaving them all locked up.

“Uh…” Rio and her classmates looked on uncertainly. “Not sure about—“

“She’s a _Traitor-Bitch_!” Mitsuko snapped, turning to her classmates. “She doesn’t deserve to be our teacher anymore!” She kicked the bars. “Stupid bitch!”

“Mitsuko, that’s enough,” Koro-sensei reprimanded calmly, sitting down on the ground. “While I’m disappointed in Ms Irina’s decision as well, she is still your teacher and deserves a manner of respect.” He rubbed his chin. “That being said her behaviour is a high level of bitchiness.”

Kurahashi sighed, sitting down on the ground. “I knew we should have gone after her when she stormed off that day…”

Yada nodded, looking sad. “Who knows what the Reaper did to convince her to join him?” She looked over at Mitsuko. “I’m upset too, Mitsuko, but we have to try to understand it from Bitch-sensei’s point of view as well.”

Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms stubbornly. “Doesn’t make her less of a traitorous bitch…”

Rio wrapped her arms around her, kneeling down. “It’s okay.”

That made her a relax a little, sighing. “I just…” Mitsuko grimaced. “I thought we were friends…”

“I know.” Rio sighed, giving her a squeeze.

“I’ll try the radio,” Koro-sensei said after a moment of silence. “We need to be available if Karasuma needs our help!”

Her classmates nodded in agreement, most of them watching as their teacher fiddled with the communication radio to get it to work.

“…I think Bitch-sensei is just insecure about everything,” Kurahashi said quietly. “She seemed really hurt after what Mr Karasuma said. We don’t know how bad her past really is. She probably has a good reason for not letting people get close…”

Mitsuko’s brow furrowed, staring at the ground.

_Insecure…_

Her thoughts drifted to all the small hesitant smiles and the looks Bitch-sensei had let slip out throughout the months.

Then the memories of her reaction to the gift she’d given her came back; she’d looked so surprised.

_I guess she doesn’t have many real friends…_

“She told me she grew up in a dark place,” Yada said softly, keeping her gaze low. “I don’t think she’s ever really felt safe.” She frowned. “A life like that…it would make it hard to trust people.”

Mitsuko grimaced, feeling something twist in her stomach.

An explosion from the distance set them all on high alert.

“What was that?!” Kayano exclaimed, looking around worriedly.

Kurahashi rushed to her feet and grabbed the radio.

“Mr Karasuma!” Kurahashi shook the radio. “Mr Karasuma!?”

“Can’t he hear us?” Nagisa asked worriedly.

Itona frowned. “Keep trying, the signal should still work.”

Mitsuko stood up as the rest of the class gathered around the radio with Koro-sensei.

“Mr Karasuma?” Kurahashi repeated desperately. "Karasuma! Are you alright!?"

"What is it?" Karasuma’s voice finally came through, sounded broken up in places.

"I finally got through. What was that explosion?"

"I'm all right, but Irina's trapped under the debris,” Karasuma told them.

Mitsuko tensed. “What?” She felt something cold run through her. “Is she okay!?”

"I don't have time for that," Karasuma said through the radio. "I'm going after Reaper."

_What?!!_

"You can't!" Kurahashi yelled. "Why won't you help her, Mr Karasuma?"

"Kurahashi... Irina partnered with Reaper to get results in her own way. A real pro accepts her own responsibility."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth, curling her hands into fists. “You can’t just leave her to die!”

"Exactly! What's being a pro have to do with it?" Kurahashi cried. "I know this is coming from a 15-year-old... but Bitch-sensei is only 21! Growing up in an environment with no peace of mind, she probably forgot to pick up some of the pieces along the way that would make her a grown-up."

Mitsuko started to feel ill when she imagined Bitch-sensei trapped underneath the rubble, alone and scared.

No one deserved to die like that!

"So please... rescue her, Mr Karasuma,” Kurahashi begged, clutching the radio tight. “Just like you forgive us students when we make mistakes."

There was a pause from the other end of the radio, far longer than it should have been.

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and marched over. “Well?!” She snatched the radio from Kurahashi. “What are you waiting for? Save her!!”

“I—“ Karasuma tried to speak.

“Kurahashi’s right!” Mitsuko grimaced. “Bitch-sensei might just be a traitor but…but so what?! So was I and so was Takebayashi! We can chew her out over it when this is all over.” She clutched the radio tight. “Just…just save her, okay? We love her and…and we know you do too!” She glared at the radio. “So get off your ass, move the debris and save her before we break out of here and kick your ass!!”

“Mitsuko—“

“SAVE HER GOD DAMN IT!!”

“I AM!” Karasuma shouted back, making the other jump back in shock. “I…am.”

“Oh…” Mitsuko paused. “THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING TO ME!?!”

Karasuma made frustrated noise before the line went dead.

“Very persuasive speeches, girls,” Koro-sensei praised.

Kurahashi sighed. “I just hope he can save her in time…”

“He will, this is Mr Karasuma we’re talking about,” Maehara reassured.

Mitsuko pursed her lips, crossing her arms. “He better.” Her brow furrowed. “I need her alive so I can kick her up the ass.”

Sugaya smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, she’ll be okay.”

She hummed, staring through the bars towards the path where Bitch-sensei had disappeared down.

“In the meantime, I recommend we start detaching these collars and show this Reaper just how effective our teamwork is!” Koro-sensei said brightly. “Sugaya-kun, do you have those camouflage paints?”

Sugaya nodded, reaching into his inside vest pocket. “Yeah, I always carry them on missions.”

“Good, then we’ll need to move fast.” Koro-sensei turned to Itona. “Itona-kun, have you been able to get a good look at the collars?”

Itona nodded. “Yes, I think I know how we can get around the detonation.”

“Fine work.” Koro-sensei turned to Mitsuko. “Mitsuko, we need a pyramid formation to pile everyone up in the blind spot of the cameras. Are you able to calculate?”

“Huh?” Mitsuko frowned, but then nodded, focusing. “Right, on it!” She looked at her classmates. “Smallest classmates on the left, big ones on the right, we’re looking to have groups of three. Terasaka, you’re up first, move it!”

“Hey, you mind saying please?!” he snapped.

“Keep back-talking and I’ll detonate your collar myself.” Mitsuko kicked him towards the wall. “And I said, move it!”

* * *

“So…what happened exactly?” Mitsuko stared down at the all so powerful Reaper who was currently face down in the water. “Wasn’t this guy meant to be a badass?”

“Pfft, more like a boyband reject,” Karma commented. “Mr K beat the shit out of him in less than ten minutes.”

Mitsuko frowned, kneeling down to look at the Reaper’s body, grimacing when she saw his deformed face. “Ugh, I think boyband reject is too much of a compliment, Karma.”

"The man had marvellous skills," Karasuma said, while he carried his blazer over his shoulders. “But he put too much faith in them."

"Whoever influenced him was a fool," Koro-sensei declared. "He could have used his skills to follow a much straighter path."

Mitsuko frowned at his tone, looking over at him curiously.

"Sparing people or killing them... It's all up to the person and the world around them."

"Yes, exactly. Right, Miss Irina?"

Mitsuko’s eyes narrowed when she looked over and saw Bitch-sensei trying to sneak away. “And where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?”

Everyone turned to face their English Teacher. "Urk!" Drops of sweat ran down her face, trying to skip down the hall without saying a word.

"YOU BITCH!" the whole class screamed, chasing after her angrily. "What's the big idea, tryin' to run away!?"

Mitsuko glared and marched forward to follow her. “Hold her down so I can shove my foot up her butt!”

“Mitsuko!” Koro-sensei chided.

“She has it coming!” Mitsuko snapped.

Bitch-sensei was hauled forward by Yoshida and Mimura."Ugh! Just do whatever you want!" The rest just watched her, sweatdropping. "The boys with their usual pent-up animal lust, the girls with their usual envy of my beauty—just let it all out in an explosion of sexual violence!"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes while she ranted. “Seriously, you’re just embarrassing yourself.”

"Look, just come to school as always," Terasaka said. "No more shirkin' your duties for days on end."

Bitch-sensei stared at them in confusion and then winced when she met Mitsuko’s line of sight. Mitsuko grimaced and looked away while her classmates started gushing about their teacher coming back, but then again, they were forgiving…

Koro-sensei rested a tentacle on her head. “Forgiving isn’t always easy,” he said, seeming to know exactly what she was thinking.

“…She betrayed us,” Mitsuko muttered, eyeing Bitch-sensei from the corner of her eye.

Koro-sensei nodded. “Yes, she did, but if she’s willing to change and fix the damage she caused…?” He looked at her meaningfully. "We should at least give her the chance to try."

Mitsuko scowled, looking away stubbornly. “Hey, I never left my classmates for dead.”

Koro-sensei chuckled. “No, you didn’t.”

She hummed, eyeing Bitch-sensei warily.

"And if we can't even enjoy school with a bitch," Nakamura said, "what are we doing being junior-high assassins, anyway?"

“Yeah, otherwise we’ll be stuck with Mitsuko.” Yoshida jerked his thumb at the girl. “And she’s an annoying bitch at the best of times.”

Mitsuko blushed. “Screw you!”

Bitch-sensei stared at them in awe, completely speechless.

"Hey." Karasuma stood in front of her and held out the Reaper's rose. Mitsuko’s eyes widened in surprise. "This flower wasn't borrowed from our students. I came by it intentionally, by defeating the enemy."

Bitch-sensei’s brow furrowed, hesitating for a while until she reached out and took the flower.

"Is that good enough for your birthday?" he asked.

Mitsuko watched with a small smile as Bitch-sensei stared at the flower with a noticeable blush tinting her cheeks.

A warm and gentle smile spread across Bitch-sensei’s face. "Yes."

The students laughed as Koro-sensei bounced around the room in his paparazzi outfit. "Ooh, we have potential!"

Yada was comforting a crying Kurahashi. "But I had dibs!"

"There, there!" Yada said, patting her head.

Mitsuko couldn’t help it, a small laugh coming out as she watched.

“Um…” Bitch-sensei smile was still there, but the apprehension was back when she walked over to her. “Hey…kid.”

Mitsuko’s smile twisted into a scowl. “Oh, so _now_ we’re cool apparently?”

Bitch-sensei cringed, clutching the rose tight. “Look, I wasn’t really going to let him kill you!” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I just…was upset.” She scowled. “I’m sensitive, you know? And…” She sighed. “Look, I’ll admit I may have taken the bitchiness a step too far with trying to kill you all…”

“Is that meant to be an apology?” Mitsuko raised an eyebrow.

The English teacher pouted. “Hey, cut me some slack!” She looked down. “I’m not good at these types of things…” She frowned, looking up. “Look, I’m sorry I upset you and betrayed your trust and all that…whatever.”

Mitsuko hummed, crossing her arms. “Well, that was a shit apology…”

Bitch-sensei scowled, stomping her foot. “Shut up! I’m trying!”

She rolled her eyes, resting her hand on her hip. “But fine, whatever. It’s fine.” Mitsuko crossed her arms. “Just don’t try to kill us again, because it’s really annoying and I already had to break my cur…” She froze in horror. “Oh, God…MY CURFEW!!”

Her classmates and teachers jumped back in surprise.

“Ow!” Kimura covered his ears. “My ears!”

“What time is it—?Oh, shit, my parents are going to kill me!” She wept silently when she saw on her phone that it was nearly Midnight. “Oh, God—Mr Karasuma, could you maybe not submit this whole report to the Principal, please!”

Karasuma grimaced. “He’ll need to be formally notified if I’m going to submit my request for the government to give you all extra protection so incidents like this don’t happen again.” He grimaced. “I’m also legally obligated to report any incidents of his students being in danger.”

“But they’ll kill me!!” Mitsuko cried while Rio patted her on the back sympathetically.

“Yeah, if my parents knew about half the stuff that was going on they’d lock me up me forever,” Kimura said, scratching his chin.

“Oh, yeah, same!” Fuwa agreed.

“Well, lucky you!” Mitsuko grumbled.

Karma grinned, patting her on the head. “Sucks being the only one with the parent in the loop.”

She saw red and had to be held back by Rio and Sugaya so she couldn’t try to strangle him again.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Sugaya asked when they landed on the roof of her house.

“Oh, yeah!” Mitsuko held back a sob of despair. “But if you don’t see me for a week then call the police to see if my dad’s locked me up in the basement.”

“Uh…” Sugaya looked very concerned.

“Relax I’m joking—the basement would be too obvious.” Mitsuko sighed. “I’ll be fine…”She sat on the roof. “Mr K said he wouldn’t notify my dad until tomorrow so maybe he hasn’t even noticed I’m gone?”

“Right.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “Well, good luck!”

“Thanks…” She sighed and didn’t move even after he’d left. “Ugh…”

Then after a few more minutes had passed, she made her way down, trailing along the wall towards her bedroom window…which was locked.

_Oh, shit…_

Mitsuko groaned and climbed back along the side to try to get to the backyard of the house where she could use the backdoor and—

She lost her grip and landed in the bushes, letting out a look squeak and then a groan when the thin branches dug into her knees. The padding on her gear broke most of the impact but there were now leaves and stray bits of twig stuck in her hair which peaked out from under the hood.

“…Damn it,” she mumbled, struggling to sit up and climb out of the thick bushes which were ow ruined.

Mitsuko groaned and rolled over, landing on the patio at the back where her mom was currently dressed in a thick robe and smoking a cigarette…

_Oh, fuck._

“Mitsuko!” Mom gawked, staring at her in alarm. “W-what?”

“Oh….h-hey, mom!” Mitsuko scrambled to her feet.

Mom’s eyes were wide like tennis balls, looking her over in alarm. “H-how? W-what, what are you wearing?”

“I…” Mitsuko started sweating. “This is…just….my…my gear for…for paintball club.”

Mom blinked once, then twice, then three more times. “…Paintball club?”

“…Yes,” she replied evenly, struggling to keep a blank face. “Paintball club.”

Mom’s eyes narrowed. “…Then why aren’t you covered in paint?”

“Because…” Mitsuko swallowed dryly. “I’m…that good.”

Mom’s face was twitching. “W-what?!”

“Well, what else would it be for?” Mitsuko argued, crossing her arms. “Just ask dad, he knows about it.”

Mom eyed her suspiciously. “He does?”

“Yes, he does,” Mitsuko told her firmly.

“…And does paintball club normally meet at midnight?” Mom took a drag of her cigarette while she glared at her. “After curfew, I might add.”

“Well…” Mitsuko smiled sheepishly. “No. But there was this special event not technically scheduled during club hours so…”

“So you snuck out to play paintball with your friends?”

“And won, as you can see,” Mitsuko added with a strained laugh. “I’m just that good…”

Mom crossed her arms. “Well, I will be bringing this up with your father in the morning, young lady,” she said sternly. “So don’t expect to make any plans with your friends this weekend.”

_This wasn’t fair!_

Mitsuko scowled. “Fine…” She walked closer, brushing some leaves and branches off her body. “Would help if I said I was helping a friend…?”

Mom raised an eyebrow. “By attending a paintball tournament at night?”

“…Yes.”

“Mitsuko!”

“What? It’s true.” Mitsuko sighed. “Okay, fine, it doesn’t matter.” She glanced at the cigarette. “So…I gather from the smoking that dad’s still being an ass about the whole job thing?”

Mom scowled, looking away. “Don’t try to get out of trouble by changing the subject…”

“I was genuinely asking!” Mitsuko argued, frowning. “Seriously, though, are you okay?”

“Yes,” mom replied a bit too quickly, taking another long smoke. “I’m fine.”

“…Right.” Mitsuko arched an eyebrow, leaning against the wall of the house near the kitchen window. “You want to talk about it?”

Mom’s face scrunched up as she turned her face away. “…I…I don’t even know why I’ve been applying.” She glared at the ground. “It’s…I mean, I’m forty for goodness sake and it’s an entry-level job…”

“And?” Mitsuko’s brow furrowed. “Forty isn’t that…bad. If you want to work, then work.”

Mom sighed, looking down at her house-sandals and exposed toes. “Your father keeps saying I won’t be able to handle the stress…I don’t know.” She sighed softly. “Maybe he’s right?”

“No, he’s not.” Mitsuko’s eyes narrowed. “He’s just being an asshole because he’s scared of you actually proving him wrong and being independent.” She touched her mom’s arm. “And how will you ever know if you don’t try?”

Insecurity ticked across her mom’s face. “Yes, but he is right about the timing, and I really should have discussed it with him first,” she said, staring up at the stars. “He was right about the timing, after everything that’s been going on with you and Gakushuu, I should be at home. I can always start looking next year—”

“No!” Mitsuko said firmly, surprising her. “The worst thing you can do is put it off! You have to treat every day like it was your last and just go for it!”

Mom frowned. “Yes, but there’s a lot of housework—“

“Then Gaku-nii and I can deal with that,” she replied quickly. “We’ve taken care of ourselves lots of times, remember?” She gave a strained laugh. “I’ll even iron dad’s shirts if that’ll help.”

Her mom still looked unsure. “…I doubt I’ll even get the job, though.”

“Oh, come on, sure you will,” Mitsuko encouraged. “You just have to show you’re willing to adapt, and besides, some employers like a more mature candidate.”

“Well, there is that.” Mom hummed, stubbing her cigarette out on the wall. “It would just be embarrassing if I didn’t get it, I know your father would rub it in as well.”

Mitsuko sighed. “Mom, stop making excuses and just go for it.” She smiled at her warmly. “If you don’t get it then so what? Something better could come along, but you won’t know until you try, right?”

Mom stayed quiet for a while, holding the thick dressing down closer to her. “…I’d need to buy a new suit early in the morning if I’m going to make it in time…”

“That’s the right kind of thinking!” Mitsuko grinned. “You’re gonna be fine, I can’t wait to see the look on dad’s face!”

The corner of mom’s lips curved upwards. “It would be quite something…”


	44. Change can Happen

Breakfast was different on Tuesday morning.

Mitsuko walked in and nearly did a double-take when she saw her mom dressed for work in a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up and the hem tucked into a long black skirt, hurriedly cooking breakfast with the pink apron over.

She glanced at her dad and brother who were already sat down in their usual spots, with dad studying something on his laptop while Gakushuu quietly ate.

Mitsuko frowned when she looked back at her mom and saw she was struggling a bit.

"Morning," she said, walking over to her mom. "Uh, do you need any help?"

"No!" Mom said quickly, surprising her. "No, I have everything handled." Her voice was rushed as she put some eggs onto a plate, trying very hard not to get any grease on her apron. "Go ahead and sit down. I'm managing just fine!"

Mitsuko's frown deepened. "Um...okay." She eyed her mom hesitantly before sitting down in her usual seat. "So are you excited about work?"

"Oh, yes." Mom replied, coming over to serve her breakfast on her plate. "The induction yesterday went very well, and there's a lot of work that will keep me busy."

"That's good." Mitsuko picked up her fork. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Yes, thank you," Gakushuu commented lightly, staring at his phone while he ate.

Mom nodded and then looked over at their father who was still focused on whatever he was typing. "Would you like some more coffee, dear?" she asked, picking up the mug.

"If you're not too busy," he said evenly, keeping his gaze on the screen.

Mom gripped the might tightly. "Of course not." The smile on her face was strained, walking over to the coffee machine. "Actually," she turned around, leaning on the counter. "I was wondering if you'd be able to do me a small favour?"

"Hm?" Dad kept typing something. "And what would that be?"

"Well..." Mom fidgeted on the spot briefly as the coffee was poured from the machine. "I sent in some dry cleaning last week and I didn't know I'd have this job since it was before the interview so..." She took the mug over to him and placed it on the table. "It's due for pick-up today and they shut at five, so would you be able to pick it up while I'm at work?"

Dad stopped typing. "Why didn't you make arrangements for an alternative day?"

Mom gave a nervous laugh. "I completely forgot and they'll charge if I don't—"

"I'm afraid I have too many meetings." Dad sipped his coffee.

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed, while Gakushuu looked up from his phone.

"Yes, I know, but you'd just need to swing by and pick it up," mom argued, struggling to smile still. "I know it's last-minute—"

"Which is exactly why I can't." Dad went back to typing while he ignored their mom. "If we have to pay the charges then I suppose that will just be a lesson for you to be more organised in future."

_You fucking bastard._

Mitsuko gritted her teeth as her temper mount when she looked at her mom and saw that she was close to tears.

Mom twisted the ends of her apron, turning away from them when she started blinking too much. "A-alright then," She said quietly, walking over to the counter again. "It's fine I'll just...um...I'll..."

Mitsuko opened her mouth to say she'd get the dry cleaning—

"I'll pick it up," Gakushuu spoke up, looking disinterested with the whole exchange.

Mom looked over in surprise. "You will?"

He shrugged, eating some of his egg. "Yes. Mitsuko and I can pick it up after school."

A wide smile spread across mom's face, drying away any incoming tears. "Thank you." She walked over kissing him on the top of the head while she squeezed his shoulders. "I appreciate it."

Gakushuu wrinkled nose when she kissed his head. "It's fine..."

Mitsuko felt a warm smile grow on her face when she looked at her brother.

* * *

"So, Mitsuko." Koro-sensei smiled at her from the desk in the teaching lounge. "Today I'll be asking you about any future careers you're interested in."

"Oh, yeah, I know." Mitsuko huffed a bit when she lifted her heavy bag. "I had the date marked down for two years."

"O-Oh, really?" Koro-sensei's eyes widened at that. "Well, that's very organised of you."

"You're telling me." She smiled brightly as she hefted out a large and heavy purple folder and dumped it on the desk, making the whole thing shake. "I've been planning for this since I was seven!"

Koro-sensei made a weak gasping noise, staring at the folder in surprise. "Um...Oh, I-I see!"

Mitsuko felt excited to finally show someone outside of her family. "Okay, so let's start with the basics." She opened up the front file which had at least five essays colour coded. "So I already drafted up five different alternative versions of a five-year plan."

Koro-sensei started to sweat as she handed him the essays. "How many words are these?"

"Only 3,000—it's mostly a summary!" she explained as she turned to the next page. "Then I outlined the best career paths and catalogued them by salary!"

She lifted the folder so he could see the colour coded graph. "The Panda stickers are indicators of career stability depending on the stock market exchange."

Koro-sensei choked. "Um, a-alright...that's....when did you make this?!" He started to look scared for some reason.

She frowned. "Well, it depends what you mean, this has been an ongoing project since I was a little kid." She shrugged, pointing at the bookmarks at the top. "My dad always reviews it every year and makes comments—see, here he commented that I needed to calculate in the growing software development which could cause future redundancies to my potential career."

"I see..." Koro-sensei took the folder and started to look through the different pages. "This is very well prepared, Mitsuko." He gave a weak chuckle. "I think you've done most of my job for me."

Mitsuko smiled in pride. "Well, there's nothing wrong with a little planning."

"Yes, I suppose." Koro-sensei looked at the folder curiously before pulling out a detailed schedule. "What is this?"

"Oh, that's a study schedule for preparing for University entrance exams." She grinned. "It starts from second year of high school so the knowledge is still fresh." She leaned over and pointed at the star stickers which were on some gaps in the grid. "The stars are non-study time!"

"Um..." Koro-sensei was sweating again. "There aren't many stars on here..."

Mitsuko smiled sheepishly. "Well, I made it when I was ten so I guess I didn't factor in my new social life." She reached into her bag and took out a pack of star stickers. "We can add more stars to it."

Koro-sensei looked relieved. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea." He turned the folder around so she could see the schedules. "Studying is important for the entrance exams, but you need to make sure you have a balanced social life and free time."

"Yeah..." She stared at the jam-packed schedule and then placed a star down on Friday. "Friday could be more relaxed I guess..." She covered a majority of the study periods with stars. "And I guess, Saturday could be a half-day..."

Koro-sensei nodded. "Yes, I think that would balance things out better."

She nodded, adding a few more stickers before putting them in her pocket. "That can work."

Her teacher continued to look through until he came towards the end. "What are these?" he asked, taking out one of her essays on possible career paths.

"Oh, those." She gave a nervous laugh. "My dad had me and Gakushuu write essays on what dream jobs we wanted to do and why," she explained and Koro-sensei read through two of them. "Then he put comments on how a lot of them weren't practical." She gave another laugh. "I mean, some of them were ridiculous!"

"...You wanted to be a dancer?" he said curiously.

"Yeah, when I was like thirteen," Mitsuko said sheepishly. "But dad pointed out that I didn't have the emotional resilience to survive the industry and it can be exploitative."

Koro-sensei kept reading. "And a doctor?"

"I don't really have the right hands for it." Mitsuko stared at her fingers. "I lack precision and he commented that I didn't have the conviction for it as well."

Koro-sensei hummed, looking like he disapproved of something. "So, what career path did you decide on?"

"Marketing," Mitsuko replied, shrugging. "It's more catered towards my talents and depending on how high I rise, the salary is good..." She told him, remembering it had been one of the few her dad hadn't dismissed. 

Koro-sensei kept looking through the essays, pulling another one out. "What about events management?"

She'd almost forgotten about that.

Mitsuko gave a short laugh. "Oh, that. No, that's definitely a no go."

"Because of..." Koro-sensei frowned when he read the comment on the essay. "Your father thinks you lack the leadership and managerial skills for the role..."

"Yeah..." She started to feel uncomfortable.

"And do you think that's true?" he asked.

"Well...not completely." Mitsuko shrugged. "I can boss people around fine, but actually get them to follow me? Yeah, not my area of expertise..."

"I don't think that's true," Koro-sensei told her. "I think you have a lot of potential in it. You just have some more things to learn." He rubbed his chin. "You once told me you wanted to develop a plan that would kill me."

Mitsuko frowned. "Well, yeah..." She sighed. "I'm not sure it will work though."

"But that's part of learning, remember?" Koro-sensei chuckled, as he closed the folder. "Therefore your assignment for the remainder of the term is to develop a plan to kill me along with your classmates." He handed her back the folder. "I want to see those leadership skills in action!"

Her frown deepened, holding the folder close. "I guess it's worth a try at least." She started to smile. "Okay, sir, I'll make you proud." She stood up, nearly falling over due to the heaviness of the folder. "You won't even see it coming!"

Koro-sensei chuckled. "I shall wait in fearful anticipation."

* * *

"So your mom really got a job?" Rio asked as the two of them were sat outside for lunch.

"Yeah, it's part-time so she only works three full days out of five in a working week." Mitsuko opened up her lunch box as the two of them sat on the steps facing the training yard. "But dad's being a complete ass about the whole thing." She sighed. "He's just pissed because she did it without his permission."

Rio grimaced. "Your dad's gross."

"Ugh, I know..." Mitsuko frowned. "I can barely stand having to follow his rules, but imagine being married to a person like that?"

"Yeah, I think I might lose my appetite." Rio looked disgusted, scrunching her face up. "My dad always told me if a guy ever tried to control me like that I should kick him in the nuts."

Mitsuko laughed. "I can imagine your dad saying that."

Rio smirked. "Yeah, he has his moments." She shrugged, chewing some honey roasted chicken.

"Doesn't really work though if you're dating a girl," Mitsuko commented and then tensed. "Uh..."

"Yeah, I guess." Rio shrugged, unbothered. "Actually...."

"Yes?" Mitsuko said quickly.

"I've been looking online, and do you think it's weird when straight guys say they'd never date a trans person even after surgery?" Rio said randomly.

"Uh, is Trans the being trapped in the wrong body thing?" Mitsuko asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I've been looking at it," Rio replied, in-between chewing. "I don't know, it just made me think about the different thinking and all that." She smiled faintly. "You know, I used to have a crush on Nagisa at one point."

Mitsuko frowned, smothering some jealousy. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah..." Rio shrugged. "I don't know, the more I research about different sexualities and stuff it kind of feels overwhelming sometimes trying to understand it all, but nice because..."

"It feels like you're not alone?" Mitsuko smiled a little.

"Yeah." Rio smiled. "Pretty much."

Mitsuko felt a warm feeling in her chest. "Yeah, I feel the same." She watched a few bugs buzz by as a nice quiet settled between them. "So...about your grandma." She poked at her lunch. "You definitely want to tell her?"

She hesitated for a bit but then nodded. "Yes. I need to."She grimaced. "Things will probably get awkward so I understand if you want to back out. I won't hold it against to."

"I'm not backing out," Mitsuko told her quietly, her fingers itching to hold her hand as she rested on the steps. "I said I'd go with you and I will." She chewed her tongue, shifting uneasily. "I...I care about you. I don't want you facing this alone..."

Rio's cheeks faintly heated up in a blush. "Thanks." She looked away, making Mitsuko smile. "Um...yeah." She pushed some hair behind her ear and chewed some of her lunch. "So..." She swallowed. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, you can," Mitsuko replied.

"So...you don't have to if you don't want to but..." Rio drummed her fingers on the step. "I've been thinking that...maybe...we could try dating...like properly."

Mitsuko froze, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I mean, like, it wouldn't be a relationship or anything," Rio said with forced casualness. "But if things went well then...that would be the end goal."

Mitsuko tried to speak, but the words were stuck like her brain was too overwhelmed to even articulate what she was feeling.

"Yes." Was the only word that managed to come out. "Yes."

Rio smiled faintly. "Cool..." She relaxed against the steps and looked up at the sky. "So, you wanna come round to mine for dinner—?"

"Yes!" Mitsuko practically shouted and then blushed. "Uh, you know, whenever is good for you?"

Rio's smile grew crooked. "Well, considering how crazy things are gonna get with finals, I was thinking after that? Plus the school festival is around the corner so we have to put our all into that if we're gonna beat your brother."

Mitsuko smile wavered. "Yeah..." Then her gaze shifted when she saw something from the corner of her eye. "Hey, who's that?"

"Huh?" Rio looked over in her direction as someone slim and female was walking towards the old Campus Building. "Who's that?"

Mitsuko squinted to try to get a better look. "I'm not sure...wait." She tensed when she realised who it is. "Oh, shit. Hide me." She quickly packed up her lunch and stood up.

"What?" Rio looked up in confusion. "Why, who is it?"

"Ms Shiota, and there is no way I am letting her near after last time," Mitsuko hissed, grabbing Rio's arm.

"Nagisa's mom?" Rio frowned as she watched the woman walk into the campus. "Oh, yeah, Koro-sensei's dressing up as Mr K fool her right?" She started to grin. "Come on, let's eavesdrop!"

"Rio, no!" Mitsuko argued but was quickly dragged along by her arm.

"Come on!" Rio tugged her up the stairs and towards the building. "Aren't you at least interested in how Koro-sensei's gonna pull this off?"

* * *

In a long story short, Koro-sensei did in fact 'pull it off' but not in the metaphorical sense which would indicate any type of visible success.

And now Ms Shiota thought Mr Karasuma was balled, along with some more clarification that she was fucking insane.

Mitsuko sighed, remembering when she'd asked her to show her the dresses at her and Gakushuu's visit. When she replayed the whole scene in her head it made her feel nauseous.

She grimaced and shook her head as she stood behind her brother at the dry cleaners.

The man at the counter smiled at them as he handed it over.

"Thank you," Gakushuu said, taking the bag.

"You're welcome, have a nice remainder of the day," the man said as they turned to leave.

Mitsuko smiled faintly at her brother as they walked out of the dry cleaners.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

Her smile grew, holding her heavy bag in front as they walked along the street. "I'm just happy you offered for us to pick up the dry cleaning."

Gakushuu shrugged. "It's just dry cleaning."

"But it means a lot to mom," she pointed out.

Her brother scowled, looking away. "I honestly don't see why everyone was making a big deal out of it."

"Well, you know how dad can be." Mitsuko sighed. "He's really giving mom a hard time right now, and we both know how awful he can be."

Gakushuu gave a vague hum. "Well, our mother needs to realise just who she's dealing with."

She grimaced. "Yeah, I know, but she keeps saying she loves him..." She sighed. "And I kind of understand. I mean, even after everything he's done, he's still our dad, right? So there's still moments where I do love him, and I hate that he still has that control over me, you now?"

Her brother stayed quiet for a long while. "He's ever going to change..."

Mitsuko felt her stomach twist. "I know it's unlikely but..." she replied, lowering her gaze. "Mom changed, and I've changed." The corner of her lip curled upwards. "I'd go as far to say you've changed a little as well."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. "I beg to differ."

She chuckled. "Hey, it's true." Her smile was warm. "My teacher said that as long as people are willing, change can happen." Her smile grew crooked. "Even if they don't realise it yet."

He huffed, wrinkling his nose. "Which is more confirmation that your teacher is a homeless hippy."

Mitsuko cackled, clutching her stomach. "You're such an ass."

He was clearly trying very hard not to smile. "You're not denying it. So he is homeless and a hippy?"

She smirked, skipping ahead of him. "I'm not telling!" she said, firmly. "Or at least not until after March." Her smile faded a little, growing anxious. "So just be patient."

_And hope that the world doesn't end..._


	45. Gakushuu Asano's Outside Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Two updates in one day. Quarantine lifestyle.
> 
> To be honest, I wasn’t going to show Gakushuu’s perspective in this story since he and Mitsuko interact so much, but there were a few points that wouldn’t translate properly from her Pov in the festival arc, and since we’re in act 3 of this story I thought it would be good to have his POV for once.

Laser Tag had been the only thing he and Mitsuko could agree on for their tenth birthday party and since it was easy enough to organise, it was practical. Besides, after two and three birthdays already forgotten by their parents, Gakushuu and his sister had realised they weren’t getting a party unless they mad eth arrangements themselves.

Their father didn’t think much of it and just agreed to pay for it, while their mother would chaperone them.

He remembered his father had replied that they could use the free time to, ‘Channel their aggression through mindless violence against their school mates.’

It was girls against boys and it was chaos, and the boys naturally were winning.

The whole arena was made of soft foam that had been painted black with splatters of neon paint added on top.

Gakushuu was a leader, it was something that was so genetically infused in him it was impossible to deny and not rise to the pedestal.

His classmates thought he was amazing, which was true. He was extraordinary, and it certainly wasn’t arrogant to admit it when it was the truth, and as much as he loved his sister…

“DIE!” Mitsuko stood on the fake platform shooting at her brother’s teammates with a very inaccurate aim.

His sister was very much not a born leader.

“Forward!” Gakushuu shouted over his barricade.

“AAAGH!” The boys did a battle cry ad jumped over.

His sister hid behind the barricade where her teammates were; they were head counted at Nakamura, Haruhi, Asami, and Kamie.

_Which were all frankly horrible choices in teammates by the way._

Gakushuu signalled his team to hang back as a roar came from the girls when they leapt over the barricades.

Gakushuu looked over at his team which was made up of Fujimori _,_ Ren, Tomo, and Teshima _._

“Fujimori, Tomo. Left position,” he ordered, raising his gun.

“Die, maggots!” Haruhi screamed, tackling one of the boys, Fujimori, to the floor and then zapped him in the chest.

“Oh, man!” Ren looked disturbed when he saw her attack.

Gakushuu winced when Fujimori cried out and tried to shove Haruhi off. “Ren?”

Ren glanced over and then started to grin. “I’m on it.” He readied his laser and jumped down a platform.

Haruhi kept charging after the boys. “Come get me, losers!”

“Why are you so violent, fair maiden?” Ren spoke softly, making her tense.

Haruhi blushed, lowering her gun. “Oh…I-I…”

Nakamura fumed in the background. “Oh, come on how stupid are you?!”

But, her complaints fell on deaf ears.

Ren clasped Haruhi’s hands tenderly. “Such soft hands shouldn’t be used for bloodshed.”

Gakushuu smirked and signalled to Teshima.

“Oh, my…” Haruhi’s eyes widened when the boy took a step closer.

“Gotcha!” Teshima yelled, zapping her in the back.

She snapped out of her trance. “What?!”

Ren smiled sadly. “Sorry.” Then he zapped her in the chest twice. “It’s nothing personal.”

Haruhi looked down in horror when her life count went to zero. “B-but…it’s not…” Her face scrunched up. “Stupid boys!” She screamed shrilly and ran off.

Ren chuckled, waving her off. “See you later.”

Gakushuu held back a laugh, but then tensed when he saw something loom behind Ren. “Ren, look out!”

Ren jerked around. “Huh?”

Asami came up like a shadow-monster with red glowing eyes. “Die, pretty boy!”

“Agh!” Ren was zapped in the chest. “WHY!” He choked, reaching out as he fell to the ground.

“Ah hah!” she jumped up for joy. “I got him, I—“

Gakushuu shot her multiple times in the back.

Her pink armour stopped glowing when her lives went to zero.

He smirked. “Dead.”

Asami went bright pink. “No fair!” she screamed, stomping her feet. “I hate this game.” She threw her gun on the floor and marched off.

Gakushuu glanced down at his fallen friend. “Ren?”

Ren was still lying on the ground, eyes rolled back. “So…cruel…so…cold…” He looked up and reached out towards the ceiling. “Why is this world so dark….so, unforgiving?”

“Ren, you still have six lives left, get up!” Gakushuu interrupted irritably

Ren groaned loudly, staying in character as he raised his hand higher. “What is life? What is death?”

Gakushuu kicked his armour. “Just get up already!”

Ren frowned, looking over. “But, Gakushuu, this is my starring role!”

“Get up before I zap you in the eyes,” he replied impatiently, grabbing his arm to lift him up. “Nakamura, Mitsuko, and Kamie are still in the game! Patrol the right platform on the second floor.”

His sister had been mysteriously absent for a good five minutes now.

Ren smiled brightly in that annoying way he did and saluted. “I’m on it, boss!” Then he rushed off to follow orders.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and climbed up a platform, trying to get to higher ground to survey the game.

If he was going to win this, then he needed higher ground.

Then as he climbed onto the third platform, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

In a split second, he lifted his gun and aimed as his sister came out from her hiding place and attacked.

“Die!” she yelled, shooting.

He took one of her lives, but not before she took one of his too.

Mitsuko landed on him, sending them both rolling down the foam ramp onto the ground floor of the arena. “Surrender!”

“Are you crazy?!” Gakushuu was sweating and lifted his gun like a shield to block her gun from zapping him.

“Surrender,” she repeated, straining to pin him down and aim her gun. “Just…surrender!” Then something in her tone shifted to pleading. “I…I can win!”

For a brief, tiny second, Gakushuu was tempted to let her shoot him but…but his team had already had overtaken her on the scoreboard and he couldn’t just let her shoot him because that wasn’t what the strong did!

Something about that made him almost shove her off in a panic.

“No!” he snapped, pushing back hard. “Get off me!”

“Mitsu!” Nakamura yelled.

Mitsuko looked up. “Huh, Rio?” When she looked over Rio was being cornered by Ren, Fujimori and Teshima. “Rio!”

Gakushuu pushed her off before she could react, and aimed his gun at Nakamura—

The timer went off and the light switched on.

“Game’s over, kids!” a chirpy voice chimed through the speakers. “Please head towards the exit to collect your badges!”

“Aww!” They all groaned, lowering their guns.

Mitsuko scowled, sitting up. “But, we could’ve still won!”

“Pfft, as if.” He stood up and extended his hand for her to take. “Half of your team was already dead. Know your odds, little sister.”

She glared at his hand and stuck up her nose to him, standing up by herself. “Whatever. You guys cheated anyway,” she rebuked, crossing her arms.

Gakushuu scowled, lowering his hand. “ _I_ never cheated,” he insisted. “It isn’t my fault your friend’s stupid enough to fall for Ren’s trick.”

Mitsuko glared at him. “That may be, but Ren shouldn’t have done it, so _there!_ ”

_She was so annoying sometimes!_

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You’re just a sore loser.”

Ren was grinning when he rushed over, raising his hand o high-five him. “Nice one, Gakushuu!”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and allowed himself to be high-fived.

* * *

“Hey, Asano!” Ren was talking.

Gakushuu looked up from where he was tuning his guitar, remembering where he was.

The five of them were in the auditorium rehearsing for the festival in the next few days, a festival that he was not allowed to lose under _any_ circumstances.

School had finished fifteen minutes ago so they only had another hour of practice available.

_Which is why I need to focus!_

He chastised himself for wasting time thinking about things that weren’t important.

“What is it?” Gakushuu asked impatiently.

Ren frowned, resting the base on his knees as he leaned on it; rather carelessly considering how expensive the instrument was. “Is everything alright?”

Seo looked up from where he was sat with his guitar, while Araki paused from drumming the spare chair with his drum sticks. Koyama glanced up from the piano.

Gakushuu gritted his teeth. “Of course, I am. What kind of question even is that?” There was an uncomfortable silence after that. “We can’t afford to waste time.” He stood up and held his instrument. “Araki, lead us in with the slow beat, then Koyama will follow after.”

“Oh, right!” Araki quickly rushed back over to the drum set. “I’ve been working on some improv if you want—“

Gakushuu sighed in exasperation. “Just play the song I gave you.”

Araki blushed, adjusting his glasses. “Oh, yes, of course…”

“GAKU-NII!!” A voice thundered from just outside of the auditorium.

Gakushuu’s eye twitched. “For the love of—“

His sister burst through the doors with a large smile on her face and a plastic container full of cakes.

“Guess what I brought!” she exclaimed, waltzing over like she hadn’t just interrupted. “I’ve been baking all day for the festival and saved you some leftovers.” Her smile was smug. “You’re welcome by the way!”

“Cake!” Araki completely abandoned what he was doing and stood up.

_Wonderful…_

Gakushuu scowled, crossing his arms. “We’re in the middle of something, Mitsuko.”

“Yeah, I know.” She shrugged walking up the stage steps. “That’s why I got you this—you’ll need food.”

“More like you were sent to spy on us!” Seo eyed her suspiciously.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “Our spying methods are a little higher tech than that.”

Araki grabbed one of the fruit pastries and quickly devoured it. “Hmm! These are really good.”

“Really?” Ren smiled, picking one up. “They look good too!”

“Let me try!” Koyama rushed forward to take one.

Gakushuu gritted his teeth. “We are in the middle of practice.”

His sister smiled sheepishly. “Sorry! But I promise I’ll be gone soon.”

Ren’s eyes lit up in an irritating way which meant he had an idea. “Hey, you could stay and sing with Asano. It could be fun.”

_They weren’t doing this for fun!_

“This isn’t karaoke, Ren.” Seo rolled his eyes. “And she’s the enemy!”

Ren frowned. “It’s just singing—“

“No,” Gakushuu said sharply, making them all grow on edge. “This is a _professional_ rehearsal and we are running out of time.” He looked at his sister in irritation. “Mitsuko, go. You are being a distraction!”

It came out harsher than he’d meant.

In an instant, his sister’s gaze grew hurt and her whole posture seemed to deflate.

He shouldn’t have said that…but they needed to focus!

And, for all they knew Mitsuko could be doing this deliberately as sabotage or…

He nearly cringed at that and banished the foolish though immediately.

“Right…” Mitsuko’s brow was furrowed. “Sorry.” She placed the tub of cake on one of the chairs. “I’ll just leave you guys to it then.”

His skin prickled uncomfortably. “I…” The apology got stuck in his throat like it always seemed to do. “Yes, well.” He adjusted his guitar. “I’ll see you at home.”

Her lips were thin and pursed as she walked off the stage and back to the entrance.

Gakushuu gripped the neck of the guitar tight. “Well…” He turned to his…the others, when the doors of the assembly shut behind his sister. “I just said we were on a time limit.”

Araki hastily wiped his mouth with his sleeve and went back to the drums while Ren looked down and picked up the base again.

* * *

He didn’t get home until after seven, and by that time the guilt was eating away at him so much he might be sick.

Gakushuu stared at his sister’s bedroom door hesitantly for maybe a little longer than a minute, until he finally knocked. “Mitsuko?”

No one answered.

He frowned and knocked again since unlike his sister he could remember basic manners.

She still didn’t reply so he opened the door and looked inside, finding the room empty.

Gakushuu stared at the empty room with a frown since his sister was definitely home, but then again it was a big house.

He sighed quietly and stayed standing in the doorway for a while until his gaze shifted to something green on the floor under her desk. When he stepped in and picked it up, it was a green rubber knife which had the white letters S.A.A.U.S.O and the writing underneath.

“Special Arms Against Unidentified Slimy Octopus,” Gakushuu muttered and then frowned. “What?”

_That was…strange._

He flicked the knife and it was made of plastic like it was some kind of toy.

_Very strange…_

He slipped it into his pocket and looked around the room curiously, and then sat down at her desk.

His gaze shifted to the framed photo next to her laptop which was taken the day she’d dragged him out to build a snowman on their birthday in January since there was nothing else to do on the day.

Gakushuu stared at the photo for a long while, taking in every detail like he was seeing it for the first time.

“What are you doing?” His sister’s voice caused him to look up.

Mitsuko was in the doorway, her hair was tied up in a long ponytail and she was dressed in a pair trousers that were caked in mud and—

“Are those my trousers?!” he exclaimed and then scowled when he saw she was wearing one of his old blue hoodies as well. “Why are they covered in mud?”

The faintest of smirks was on her face. “I was de-weeding.” She shrugged, walking into the room. “Mom and dad’s punishment for breaking curfew.”

Yes, he could see that.

The trousers were rolled up at the ankles and clearly were being held up by a belt. They were covered in mud and grass, patches of the material now frayed.

Gakushuu’s eye twitched. “And you’re wearing my clothes, _because?_ ”

Mitsuko’s smirk grew. “Well, I didn’t want _my_ clothes to get dirty.” She pulled up the trousers higher, confirming his assumption of a belt. “Besides this stuff is too small for you anyway.”

“That doesn’t mean you can just ruin them!” he snapped.

His sister just shrugged, grabbing a towel from off the bed. “Did you want something?”

“Not really…” He placed the photo back on the desk. “I just…” He sighed. “I might have been slightly… _abrupt_ when I told you to leave.”

“Just a little.” Mitsuko scoffed, rolling her eyes as she slipped the towel around her neck. “It’s fine. I know dad’s being an asshole about the whole festival thing.” She leaned on the edge of the desk and smirked. “I have to admit, getting a corporate sponsor was impressive.” She raised an eyebrow. “You definitely set the bar…”

The corner of his lips quirked upwards at that. “Well, someone has to.” He looked at her desk again and frowned faintly when he saw a loose photo of her and Nakamura just underneath her laptop. “So, how are things with you and Nakamura?”

Mitsuko shrugged. “Good. I think we might…” She smiled softly, staring off at something in distance. “I think she wants to kiss me.”

Gakushuu wrinkled his nose slightly. “That better be all she wants.”

Mitsuko turned bright red and smacked his shoulder. “Stop it!”

He smirked faintly, looking away so she wouldn’t see it. “I’m just saying…”

“Sure.” She shook her head. “Don’t go giving mom ideas, she’s only just accepted us hanging out,” she said, looking at him curiously. “Thanks for that by the way?”

“Thanks for what?” he asked, frowning.

Mitsuko smiled warmly. “For telling her I’d be happy if Rio was around.”

_Oh, that._

Gakushuu grimaced, looking away. “Well, you were being very emotional.” He shrugged. “I might not particularly like Nakamura, but she serves the purpose of keeping you happy.”

Mitsuko laughed. “Wow, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve said about her.”

His eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell her.”

She laughed harder, making it hard for him not to smile.

His sister sighed, straightening up. “Well, I’m off for a shower.” Mitsuko yawned, stretching. “Try not to stay up all night studying.”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and stood up. “It’s called dedication,” he snipped back as he left the room.

“It’s called a sleeping disorder!” she shot back before he closed the door.

His smile was crooked, making his way downstairs to grab a quick dinner before he started getting comfortable at his desk.

When he entered the kitchen his mother seemed to be hurriedly packing food into boxed of Tupperware; there were at least eight boxes piled up.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he entered the kitchen.

It wasn’t unusual for his mom to box up leftovers, even when preparing to go out to drink and party, but eight boxes was a bit excessive.

Mom looked over her shoulder. “Oh, hello, sweetie.” She smiled warmly. “I’m packing up some meals to save on cooking time,” she told him as she neatly piled some dough balls in a tub. “That way there’s always food in the fridge while I’m working.”

Gakushuu gave her a look. “We can all cook you know.”

Mom gave a strained laugh. “Yes, well your father apparently doesn’t have the time…”

_Bullshit._

_The Principal was just being petty._

His eyes narrowed a bit at that, walking over to the cupboard to grab some microwavable rice.

“I can make you something if you’re hungry!” Mom said quickly when she saw him go for the cupboard.

He shrugged. “I like this rice.”

Mom frowned. “But they aren’t very healthy.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” he replied curtly, opening the packet as he went to the microwave.

He heard his mom sigh. “You better not spend the whole night studying. It isn’t healthy and a boy your age needs his sleep.”

Gakushuu scowled briefly, setting the timer on the microwave. “Funny, I’ve been doing just fine for years.”

This new development which had occurred in her sobriety was becoming increasingly annoying. 

He wouldn’t mind her so much if she just stopped acting like she’d been a constant guiding presence throughout his childhood when she’d barely been in the picture at all. It was enough to make his blood boil.

“…Is everything alright?” His mom placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes.” He grimaced and shrugged her hand away. “Everything’s fine…” He went to the cutlery draw and grabbed a spoon while the rice microwaved.

“Of course…” Mom cleared her throat. “Anyway, I was thinking we could go shopping maybe next week after Finals. I think your sister mentioned you wanted new shoes.”

“I already bought some online.”

“…Oh…”

He stared took the bowl over to the microwave and stared at the packet that was rotating inside.

His mom didn’t say anything for a while after that, but he could feel her staring at the back of his head.

Then she sighed and stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around him in what was supposed to be a hug. “I…you know I love you, don’t you, sweetie?” His mom’s voice was quiet. “And I’m…I’m here if you need me…”

Gakushuu stared numbly at the microwave until it pinged, his arms stubbornly by his side while his mom clung onto him.

She held on and spoke like she hadn’t been stupid enough to drink too much and have to get sent to rehab. Like she hadn’t been so irresponsible to completely forget her own children for months while he had to pick up the pieces and take care of Mitsuko so the whole house didn’t fall apart or that—

“Gakushuu?”

“…I’ll keep that in mind,” he said quietly, waiting for her to release him so could grab the rice and go back to his room.

She didn’t speak after that, and slowly unembraced him, stepping back.

He took the packet from the microwave along with his bowl and spoon and disappeared upstairs.

* * *

Gakushuu stared at the screen for a long time. The review from this, Yujii Norita was…it was…

He curled his hands into a fist on the table while the other four of the Big Five were gathered around watching him cautiously in the empty student council meeting room.

“Um…so, what do we do?” Araki asked.

Gakushuu swallowed, staring at the review page a little longer as he reread the contents.

It was like this Yujii idiot had summarised all the hippy nonsense Mitsuko kept spouting off about recently. It was…

_How is food and stupid old mountain meant to change a person’s life?_

_And now the news was covering it of all things! Did they have anything better to do…_

“Asano?” Ren was frowning again with an irritating amount of concern.

Gakushuu grimaced. “Have they outdone our numbers?”

Koyama shook his head, adjusting his glasses. “Well, even after calculating their customer intake against their food prices, it doesn’t look likely. The high school is closer to our revenue margins.”

“Then it’s business as usual,” he replied curtly, straightening up.

His four classmates exchanged looks briefly.

“Well, if you say so.” Seo shrugged.

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, looking over at the window, seeing the mountain just above the trees.

He had to see this for himself.

“I’m going to grab lunch,” he told them evenly. “Manage things while I’m gone.”

“Uh...” Seo frowned, glancing at Ren who shrugged. “Okay, fine.”

“Do you want company?” Ren asked.

“No,” Gakushuu replied, walking out of the room without another word.

He didn’t stop walking the entire way towards the mountain, only stopping when he saw the large line to the steps.

His eyes narrowed, looking over at the woods further along.

Most people would stick to the path, so a less refined trail through the trees would be quieter and there was less of a chance have having to interact with anyone.

If Mitsuko could do it every day, then he certainly could.

He scowled and carried on up the mountain, keeping a careful eye out for any mudslides or snakes that Mitsuko had spent weeks complaining about when she’d first been sent there.

Gakushuu yelped and grabbed onto a tree branch when he nearly slipped and fell into the mud.

He gritted his teeth, grumbling darkly under his breath when he got mud on his once clean shoes.

When he finally reached the top he could hear a mass of chatter from customers.

He grimaced and manoeuvred to the back of the building which was pretty much empty because of the long grass and since all the customers were near the front.

As he walked closer to the old campus building he felt something weird in his chest and his skin was prickling uncomfortably when a nauseous wave of memories threatened to resurface when he saw the playing field which was different than before.

He frowned when he saw the renovations, raising an eyebrow. “How did they get planning permission for this?”

He looked around curiously as he drew closer to the back of the building, looking around the corner to glare at the number of customers they had.

How was anything of this even possible? None of it made sense?

I planned everything!

He balled his hands into fists. “Unbelievable.”

“Gaku-nii?”

His whole body tensed up when he realised he’d been discovered. “Uh…” He turned around to find Mitsuko wearing a polka-dotted apron and standing there with two garbage bags in hand. “I…”

Then a large smile spread across her face. “Couldn’t resist the curiosity right?” She laughed and dumped the bags in a trashcan next to the wall. “The review was pretty amazing.”

“Oh, yes,” he replied stiffly, not sure what other reason he could give besides spying.

She winked at him. “Well, I might be able to give you an exclusive sample,” she said like it was a secret. “Just hold on a sec!”

“Wait, no it’s fine,” he tried to tell her but she’d already disappeared back inside, leaving him standing there.

Gakushuu sighed, running a hand down his face. “Great…”

She came back a few minutes later with a small steaming bowl of noodles. “They won’t notice a little bit missing,” she told him, handing the bowl over. “Go ahead.”

He frowned, eyeing the dish suspiciously for a few seconds before he wrapped some noodles around his chopsticks.

The minute the noodles touched his tongue he felt an explosion of flavour in his mouth.

_It was like a piece of heaven had been extracted and weaved into the strong of noodles, it was delicious!!_

“So, what do you think?” Mitsuko was grinning.

His eyes narrowed, swallowing. “…Well, it’s not terrible.”

“Seriously?” She rolled her eyes. “Well, in that case, I’ll just take it back—“

“No!” He half-turned away, shielding the noodles from her. “Fine. It’s satisfactory. Are you happy?!”

Mitsuko smirked, crossing her arms. “Yeah, thought so.”

He glared at her and quickly devoured the noodles, savouring the flavour in his mouth.

His sister laughed at him, leaning against the wall. “So, did you really come for the food or to just check out the competition?”

“…Well, I had to at least look,” he grumbled, chewing on his noodles to comfort his embarrassment.

“Of course you did.” She smiled in amusement. “A-Class is doing great through. You guys have really pulled out all the stops.” Her smile grew sly. “I asked Ren for a recording of your solo.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re not getting it.”

“Is that a challenge?” she teased.

“I’ll murder him,” he told her with complete seriousness. “Accidents happen after all.”

She grinned. “Aw, so sweet.”

“I’m serious.”

“Of course you are.” Her gaze softened. “Really, though, are you okay?”

_Why did everyone keep asking that?_

“Yes.” He stared at his empty bowl, swallowing the last of the noodles. “I’m fine. A-Class is performing well and I’m satisfied with what we’re achieving so far. We can’t lose, even with everything your class is doing.”

His sister’s brow furrowed faintly. “Okay.”

Gakushuu fiddled with the chopsticks, hesitating. “…Thank you.” He couldn’t quite meet her gaze, handing her back the bowl. “The food was…not as terrible as I presumed.”

The corners of her lips twitched upwards. “Wow, high praise.” She chuckled, taking back the bowl. “Well, I better get back.”

He nodded. “Yes, I should too.”

“I’ll see you at home.” Mitsuko smiled warmly. “And good luck.”

“Yes…” He said lowly. “May the best class win…” It came out hollow, but his sister seemed to busy to rush back to notice.

When she left he felt worse than he did before coming up here.

Gakushuu stared at the empty spot where she’d been and felt tired like the energy in him was being sucked out which was a contrast the amount of joy and enthusiasm coming from every customer and student just on the other side of the campus.

He started to grow uneasy the longer he was up here, out of place and…why was everyone so happy?

His mom, his sister, E Class, and even a random braindead online influencer. All of them were happy with this…whatever all this junk on the mountain top was.

It was like he was two steps behind, and watching everyone else figure out what the missing pieces were.

* * *

Whenever Gakushuu ever doubted the type of man his father was, one memory always came back to remind him.

When he was twelve, his father had come to his room in the morning and told him they were going for a drive, which had been the first indicator something was wrong. It was a Saturday as well, which was meant to be one of the few days of the week he didn’t have to interact with his father too much.

And, more importantly, why on Earth would his father willingly want to spend time with him outside of school?

“Where are we even going?” Gakushuu tried to hide his uneasiness as he sat next to his father in the large expensive car their driver, Oshin, was escorting them in, but to where he still had no idea. “This is a waste of time.”

“I would have thought you’d grown out of whining.” His father was staring out of the window. “But then again, you seem to be making a habit of disappointing.”

Gakushuu scowled. “What are you talking about?” He grimaced. “A-Class has been performing well, and we’re already setting a good example for the other classes. If anything, I’ve exceeded expectations.”

“And yet it was only yesterday I had teachers complaining of one of your members starting a fight in public,” his father said coldly. “That does not reflect well for the school if our top students are behaving as common thugs.”

“That…” Gakushuu faltered briefly but quickly shut it off. “Hashizume was just being hot-headed, and it was off school grounds. You can’t expect me to control every—“

“I expect you to be an efficient leader.” His father’s gaze narrowed. “Or do you expect me to waste my time cleaning up after your poor management.”

“Well I didn’t ask for your help!” he snapped petulantly. “And I’m leading A-Class fine. They know I’m strong and as for Hashizume…that was a one-off. It wasn’t his fault, he—“

His father shook his head. “I don’t want to hear your excuses, Asano.”

Gakushuu bristled, glaring at him. “Will you stop doing that?”

Ever since he started Kunugiagoka Junior High, that was all his father ever referred to him as.

He turned his head to raise an eyebrow. “Stop what?”

“Stop calling me _Asano_ ,” Gakushuu snapped. “It’s ridiculous, I’m your _son_.”

“Yes, I’m aware of the biological connection,” he replied evenly, causing Gakushuu’s stomach to give a painful twist. “But you are, first and foremost my student. An example of my education.”

Gakushuu grew very still, staring at him uneasily. “Example…?”

His father stared down at him intently with same violet eyes as his. “Do you understand the role of a teacher, Asano-kun?”

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes. “To educate.”

“A simple way of putting it, but yes, that is correct,” his father replied, looking out of the window; it just seemed like they were driving in circles. “It’s to nurture young minds and create strong individuals for the years to come. In theory, our students are a reflection of our teaching, our entire educational system.”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed the longer he stared at his father. “What does that have to do with not using my first name?” His stomach twisted. “You call Mitsuko by her first name…What makes her special?”

_Did his father prefer Mitsuko over him? Was that the reason?_

_Did Mitsuko know that? Was she just pretending to be on his side?!_

Gakushuu felt a spark of jealously he hadn’t thought possible, and then immediately felt a guilt way down on him from thinking bad of his little sister when he thought of her comforting smiles and constant support.

His father sighed. “Jealousy is unbecoming and a pathetic quality in a potential leader.” He looked down at him in contempt. “Correct the flaw immediately.”

Gakushuu felt a rise of shame, lowering his gaze when his cheeks heated from humiliation.

“Your sister is my student, but she requires a different approach...” The older man crossed his legs and dusted off some lint on his trousers. “Mitsuko is…not the perfect example of my education, she has a weakness in her which is difficult to correct.”

“She’s not weak,” Gakushuu snapped, feeling a rise of protectiveness. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

His father chuckled lightly, making Gakushuu grimace. “Still so protective. I’ll admit it is a key quality in a leader, somewhat.” He crossed his legs. “A leader has to keep a close eye on his followers in case they’re led astray.” He smiled faintly. “Your sister is emotional and childish. There is so much she doesn’t understand…for her to respond to my teaching properly she must see me in a fatherly light.”

Gakushuu felt something break in his chest as he stared at his father when he started to understand what he was saying.

_Mom was allowed to see the Principal as her husband._

_Mitsuko was allowed to see the Principal as their dad._

_And I’m only allowed to see him as…_

It felt like someone was shoving a glass wall between him and his father, and everyone else in his family was being put into separate boxes without even realising.

“Ah.” His father was looking out of the window. “Wonderful. Osim, stop here please!”

Gakushuu looked confused when then the car came to a stop by a park with benches and swings. His father hadn’t taken him to the park since he was five, and none of this added up.

His father stepped out of the car when the driver opened the door. “Come along, Asano-kun.”

Gakushuu scowled, cautiously looking out at the mostly empty park. “What’s going on?” He followed his father out of the car, looking around warily. “Why are we stopping here…?”

His father seemed to be ignoring him in favour of staring at two young men by the park benches. The men were wearing shabby clothes which didn’t look wash, and their hair was long and unkempt. He wrinkled his nose in disgust when he could smell their stench; it seemed appropriate hygiene wasn’t possible for them.

“Hello there!” His father greeted the two men brightly. “I know it’s been a while since we last saw each other.” He took out his wallet. “But I’ve been rather busy lately. New students to settle in, some expansions.”

Gakushuu jerked back when the homeless-looking men dropped to their knees in front of them. “What…what is this?” He looked up at his father in confusion. “Do you know these…people?”

There was a thin smile on his father’s face. “Yes, I do, and do you know what will happen when I give them money?” He reached into his wallet and pulled out a single yen note, staring at the men who were watching hungrily.

Gakushuu shifted on the spot. “…They’ll buy food?”

“Oh, no.” His dad gave a short laugh which made him shiver. “They’ll spend it on gambling, just as they always do. Because they’re too weak to think or do anything otherwise.”

The note of money was dangling in the air while the men watched it flutter.

“P-please…” The man with shaggy curly hair whispered.

Gakushuu’s skin prickled and crawled all over. “Dad…”

“Do you know what makes you an almost perfect example of a student, Asano?” His father said suddenly, still staring at the men with a small smile.

Gakushuu swallowed a lump in his throat. “Uh…” He quickly tried to find the right answer. “Because…because I’m a good leader?”

His father laughed again, the sound made him cringe. “Oh, you have much to learn before you have the right to call yourself a _good leader_ ,” he told him lightly, dangling the note above the men’s heads. “As I’ve said, there are two types of people in this world, the strong and the weak.”

He dropped the note on the ground and the first man grabbed it, causing the other to lung at him.

Gakushuu felt a swell of fear and tried to move back, but his father placed a hand on his head, rooting him on the spot. “Dad, what—?“

“The weak struggle for the scraps handed down to them, their minds rotting from wasted potential,” his father said calmly, while they both watched the two men fighting each other for the note which could barely be anything more than a few yen at most.

Gakushuu flinched and closed his eyes when one of the men bit the other’s hand hard, breaking the skin with sharp bite marks.

“True leadership, is the ability to control and keep the weak in their rightful place,” his father said, handing him the wallet of money. “Your turn.”

Gakushuu held the wallet close. “But…” His gaze shifted to his father and then to the men. “No…I don’t…”

“Then perhaps I was wrong,” His father dug his nails into his head and then sighed, making Gakushuu shiver. “You aren’t strong.”

“Yes, I am!” Gakushuu’s voice bordered on desperate, wanting to run away but finding his feet wouldn’t move. “I am strong. I’m….” He flinched when one of the men smashed the others face in the mud. “What’s the point of this!? Just make them stop fighting, j-just stop—“

“You’re the one holding the money, Asano.”

Gakushuu winced, gripping the wallet tight as he stared at the men who were busy hurting each other.

“F-fine!” Gakushuu closed his eyes and tossed a large handful of money on the ground. “There, see! Now stop it!”

It stopped the two men from fighting as they both moved to grab the notes of yen off the dirt.

Gakushuu felt something numb start to fill his chest as he watched the men take the money like…it was…for some reason he started to grow angry with them. As if the whole thing was their fault.

_Why are they acting like animals? It’s terrifying and it…it’s disgusting!_

“Good.” The grip on his head grew gentle, thumb softly rubbing circles into his scalp like he was a dog being comforted. “Now you’re learning.”

Gakushuu looked away from the men, feeling his disgust grow unbearable. “Learning what?”

“Of what true strength is,” his father said lightly. “True strength is only found by dominating the weak so the power can’t be taken from you.” He smiled down at him pleasantly. “In fact, if I left you here right now with that money, these men would try to tear you apart just for a scrap of it.”

Gakushuu shivered under his hand and shifted closer to the Principal without even realising.

“But I would never do that to my best student.” He smoothed some hair back from Gakushuu’s face while they watched the men stuff the money in their pockets. “I would never waste such an asset so carelessly.”

The implication made him want to vomit, as the cold and fearful dread in his stomach finally took root and spread like a fungus.

Gakushuu held back a sob when he stared up at him and saw that whatever was left of his father was replaced with something twisted and deformed, like the monsters he’d read in storybooks.

This person wasn’t his dad, his brain rationalised, it was a monster wearing the man’s skin and currently gripping his hair in a mockery of a fatherly gesture.

This wasn’t the father who’d cooked him pancakes and watched Transformer cartoons with him on the weekend until the sun was up high. That man was gone and had been for a very long time, and the memories of him were fuzzy and harder to recall with each passing year.

The only thing remaining was the Principal, and that was all he had left to cling onto.

“Would I?” The Principal’s voice sharpened.

“N-no,” Gakushuu’s voice trembled a little when he realised he’d been silent for too long. “You wouldn’t do that to your… your student.”

“That’s correct.” When the Principal spoke next, his voice was an imitation of comfort. “You are under my protection as you haven’t reached your full strength yet,” the Principal told him. “But, when school is finished and you become a man, you will be alone and no one will protect you.” His voice turned low and his whole gaze was dark. “And if you are not strong enough, weak men like these will tear you apart limb from limb. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Gakushuu said far quieter than intended.

“And, will there be any more incidents like Hashizume?”

“No, sir.”

His father’s grip slackened, smiling down at him with the barest hint of pride. “Good.” The Principal gripped his shoulders tight. “Then do not disappoint me, when I tell you to set A-Class in line.”

Gakushuu stared numbly at the two men as they retreated with scrunched up dirty notes of money in their pockets and hands.

* * *

His classmates…no! He corrected himself. _His friends_. His friends were muttering and looked like…

_No, no, no this can’t be happening!_

Gakushuu felt a rise of panic spread from his hands to his head like he was suffocating.

"What have you done!?" Gakushuu yelled at the Principal who was facing the window.

"I just fuelled them with a little hatred." The Principal smiled thinly, glancing at him with a dark. "It only took a few words to destroy your 'destiny'."

Gakushuu was going to be sick, taking a step back as his heart hammered in his chest.

"The strength I teach is nothing that fragile." The Principal said coldly, smiling as dark shadows overcast his face. "Nobody will believe in your strength since it couldn't achieve a crushing victory." Centipedes seemed to lurk in the dark mist. "Now it's my turn to come out. I'll pull every string for the semester exam!"

Gakushuu’s felt like would break out in a fever and really would vomit as he stared at the older man who had lost his mind.

"That shall be my first lesson," The Principal said coldly. "There's no meaning or value to being weak."

Gakushuu looked over at his friends. “R-Ren…” He tried to reach out of grab his arm but his friend moved away from him and started to walk out, ignoring him.

His friends were acting like he didn’t exist anymore like he wasn’t there.

“Every attachment forms a weakness.” A hand clamped down on his shoulder like a piece of iron. “I thought you would have learned that by now.”

Gakushuu’s throat felt like it was closing up as his eyes started to sting. He closed his eyes tight, wanting this to be a bad dream that he’d wake up from. 


	46. Something's wrong...

When Mitsuko went downstairs that morning, the minute she hit the threshold of the kitchen door, it was very clear something was wrong.

Her skin crawled when she stepped into the kitchen like there was this dark smog polluting the air and making it hard to breathe. It set her on edge immediately.

"...M-morning," she greeted her family, looking over at her mom who was making a cup of coffee, and then her brother who was staring at his plate of food while he poked it with his fork. Her dad was staring at his laptop typing something while his breakfast remained untouched.

None of her family greeted her.

Mitsuko hesitantly walked over to her usual seat. "Is everything alright?" she asked, looking at her brother worriedly.

"Yes, Why wouldn't it?" Dad replied calmly.

From the corner of her eye, she saw her brother stab his eggs hard with the fork.

Mom walked over with the coffee and placed it in front of dad. "There you go." The smile on her face was tight.

"Thank you," dad replied, taking the coffee.

Mom glanced at the untouched breakfast. "Not hungry?"

"You undercooked the eggs," he told her dismissively, sipping his coffee. "And the coffee's bitter."

"O-oh." Mom looked put on the spot and hastily grabbed his plate. "Well let me redo—"

"There's no point wasting food on a second attempt," he replied lightly, sliding the mug to the side. "I would have assumed that today being your day off you would have had more time to prepare."

Mitsuko stared at her dad in disbelief. "You don't have to be so rude."

"Mitsuko," Mom quickly shushed her, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Don't talk back to your father."

"But, mom—"

"Mitsuko!" Mom squeezed her shoulders tight, looking worried. "That's enough."

Mitsuko tensed, feeling a deep pit of dread settle in her stomach.

"I can make you some tea instead, Gakuhou," mom said evenly, tucking some of Mitsuko's hair behind her ear. "If you'd prefer that instead?"

"No." Dad sighed, closing his laptop. "I don't have much of an appetite today anyway, not with all the work to be done."

"...What work?" Mitsuko's eyes narrowed.

Dad smiled, which was never a good sign. "Well, with A-Class's most recent failure, I've decided some more personal guidance is required to help build their strength for finals."

"A-Class didn't fail," Mitsuko argued; her mom squeezed her shoulder. "They won first place and outranked the high school!"

"You did?" Mom looked over at Gakushuu in surprise. "Oh, sweetie, that's wonderful!" The anxiety faded from her face and was replaced with a large smile. "I'm so proud!"

Mom hugged Gakushuu; he looked tense but to Mitsuko's surprise, he didn't make a disgusted face or try to escape the embrace. "...Thank you."

Mitsuko's eyes widened in concern when she saw the almost defeated look in her brother's gaze. 

"Don't encourage failure, Mayumi," dad's voice was cold, causing the three of them to stiffen.

"I'm sorry, dear..." Mom's brow furrowed, cradling Gakushuu's head against her stomach protectively. "I don't understand what you mean."

Dad sighed deeply, clasping his hands on the table. "These last two terms have been distracting, to say the least," he told them evenly. "And I'm aware I haven't been attentive in the home as much as I should be."

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably, sharing an apprehensive look with her mom. Her brother gripped his fork tight like he'd snap it, staring at their dad warily.

"As a result, standards have slipped," dad said lightly, speaking to them like this was a facility and not a family.

"S-standards?" Mom repeated with a frown, holding Gakushuu tighter.

"That changes from today." Dad spoke like this was meant to be reassuring. "Once things have been put back in order at school, things will return to normal at home."

Mitsuko tried to discreetly inch away from him. "What do you mean by normal?"

Dad stared at them in silence for a moment, making Mitsuko's stomach twist from dread.

"As I said, standards have slipped in my lack of attentiveness," he replied lightly. "Therefore it is overdue that things return to how they should—"

"No." Mitsuko stood up and glared at him. "You're crazy."

"Mitsuko!" Mom chided while Gakushuu looked up in alarm.

"You can't just stop change, dad," Mitsuko told him, while he looked back at her coldly. "That doesn't...it's ridiculous!"

" _Mitsuko_." Dad's voice tightened but she ignored it.

"People change, dad," she snapped, glaring at him. "And you can't stop it just because you don't like the end result!

Dad's hand slammed on the table so suddenly it made all of them nearly jump out of their skin. "That's enough!"

Mitsuko took a step back when she saw something very dark and unstable leak out of the Principal's normally calm façade.

He shouted. _He never did that._ She'd only heard him raise his voice maybe a handful of times, but never as loud as that.

The crack in his composer sealed back up a second later as he took a deep breath and looked back at his family who were all staring at him like he was a ticking time bomb about to explode.

"I understand this has been a stressful year so far," dad said calmly, while Mitsuko drew closer to her mom who curled an arm around her protectively. "But things will be set right."

Mitsuko grimaced and moved closer into her mom's hold, watching the Principal worriedly when he smiled calmly like everything was fine.

Mom was staring at her husband like she couldn't even recognise him properly. "Gakuhou..."

"Do you all understand?" he asked them as if they'd just had a pleasant conversation.

The three of them remained silent as they stared at him.

"Good," he replied like their silence was some sort of confirmation in agreement. "This is for the best." He stood up and slipped his laptop into his briefcase while his family watched his every move cautiously.

Mom held the two of them closer when their dad approached. Mitsuko flinched when he patted her on the head and kissed mom on the cheek.

"We'll talk more when I come back." Was all he said before he finally left.

Gakushuu dropped his fork, making a clattering noise as he curled his hand into a fist. "We need to go." He pushed his full plate away and stood up as his mom loosened her hold. "Come on."

Mitsuko shared a concerned look with her mom before grabbing her school bag as well. "Bye, mom," she muttered, following her brother out of the kitchen.

When they were both outside the house, dad's car had just pulled away.

"Gakushuu!" Mitsuko grabbed his arm. "What...what is happening?"

He grimaced, stopping to face her. "It's...it's okay. I—"

"I swear if you say you have everything handled, I will punch you in the face," Mitsuko warned him darkly. "Now what is going on?!"

Her brother sighed, looking down. "The Principal is...he was disappointed with A-Class's victory in the festival," he explained evenly. "And as a result, he...he decided that I was..." He swallowed, letting out a deep breath. "That I was not fit to lead A-Class anymore in the finals."

"What?" Mitsuko stared at him in disbelief. "He can't just do that—why...? This is crazy." She ran a hand through her hair. "He's completely lost it."

"It'll be fine." Gakushuu didn't sound like he actually believed that. "A-Class...they'll be fine."

She stared at her brother worriedly. "You really believe that?"

He grimaced, not meeting her gaze. "...Well, what else can we do?"

"We..." Mitsuko tried to think. "Okay, I don't know, but we can't let dad go off the rails like this." She took a deep breath. "We need to stand our ground and stop him from trying to control everything again, especially with mom, okay? If he tries to push us, then we have to push back."

There was no way in hell things were going back to what their father classed as 'normal'.

As terrifying as their father was, she was more afraid of letting him push them all back into their boxes. _That was worse._

"...He's desperate right now," Gakushuu said.

"What?" She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The Principal," he replied, looking deep in thought. "He's clinging on to whatever control he has left because without his education values will finally be defeated. And he knows it." He looked at her intently. "Your class is competing for top spots, correct?"

"Well, yeah, obviously," she muttered, growing uneasy.

Her brother looked annoyed and also disgusted. "Then there's only one thing left to do."


	47. Time's Up

Mitsuko sighed, trying to focus on her revision during lunch. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to stay calm.

 _What was dad even doing to Class A right now_?

Her stomach twisted when she thought of a shy Juba, outspoken Hashizume, quiet Aoi, and a far too naive Kondo being subjected to an unstable Principal.

She’d tried to get some answers from Ren to see how things were, but he hadn’t returned any of her texts or even calls. Not even an obnoxious flirt emoji or the weird Horoscope links he sent her sometimes; granted she had told him the next time he sent her one she’d put a virus on his phone, but it wasn’t like he ever listened!

Mitsuko rubbed her neck as the tension built up and made her muscles ache.

“Hey!” Rio came up from behind and hugged her.

Mitsuko nearly jumped out of her skin. “Ah!”

Rio quickly let go. “Oh.” She looked confused. “Sorry.” She smiled teasingly. “Didn’t mean to traumatise you there.”

“What?” Mitsuko blushed when she realised the others were looking over in amusement. “Oh, no it’s fine. Sorry…”

Rio’s smile faded. “Hey, everything okay?”

“Yeah…” Mitsuko sighed. “I’m just really focussed on winning finals.” She looked at her classmates who had peered over curiously. “We can’t let A Class Monopolise the top spots, guys. It’s kill or be killed!”

“Uh…” Sugaya and a number of the rest stared at her warily.

Koro-sensei chuckled. “Yes! The pressure certainly is on.” He slithered over to her desk. “But remember, fear of losing is not the right motivator we should have.” He patted her on the head with his tentacle. “Remember, we’re tackling this with the fierce determination of a professional. To try our best with the acceptance that any failure will make us stronger.”

Mitsuko took a deep breath, nodding as she thought it over. “Right. Sorry.” She smiled feebly. “I think my nerves are just getting the best of me.”

Koro-sensei hummed, looking down at her curiously. “That’s fine, Mitsuko. My door is always open if you want to chat.” Then he gave her head one last pat before walking back over to the front of the desk.

Rio lightly punched her arm. “Yeah, don’t worry.” She smiled warmly. “We’re all fighting this together.”

“And we gotta show those nerds just what we’re made off,” Karma chimed in, smirking as he leaned back in his chair. “We’re going all in, guys.”

Mitsuko felt a smile slide onto her face. “Right.”

* * *

Mitsuko clutched her bag close as she stayed behind after class. “Um, sir?”

Koro-sensei looked up from where he was tidying his desk. “Oh, is there something I can help you with, Mitsuko?”

She grimaced, glancing over at the door when Fuwa and Nagisa were the last ones out with the others.

“Yeah…” She sighed and crossed her arms. “It’s about my dad…”

Koro-sensei paused, slipping the roll call book under the desk. “I see.” He came from around the desk and gestured for her to sit down. “What’s the problem…besides the usual.”

Mitsuko grimaced, sitting down. “He’s…it’s like he’s turning delusional!” she burst out, trying to think of how to explain it. “This morning he was talking about things going back to normal like he could just magically make us be the people we used to be.”

Koro-sensei hummed, rubbing his chin. “So he’s resisting change and trying to hold onto the past?”

She nodded, scrunching up her hands in her lap as she looked down. “It’s not just that either. He’s emotional, like really emotional—he shouted! He never shouts like that. It was like he was losing control.” She frowned. “I’m…I’m worried, sir. He’s being unpredictable and I’m scared one wrong word is going to set him off and he’ll hurt my mom!”

“…Do you think he would be violent towards her?” Koro-sensei asked.

Thoughts of the exchange students broken bodies came back in flashes, but she pushed them to the side.

Mitsuko wasn’t too sure still what her father was capable of anymore. “I don’t know…he doesn’t believe in using violence to control people—he thinks it’s beneath him.” She fidgeted. “But if he isn’t in control and he loses his temper…”

Koro-sensei nodded. “Yes, I understand.” There was a grimness in his tone. “Do you feel unsafe at home?”

Mitsuko nearly laughed. “Sir, I haven’t felt safe at home since I was eight.” She sighed. “And home’s always tense when dad is around.” Then her eyes narrowed. “You better not pull any social services crap, because there is no way I’m letting them split me and my brother up.”

“I would never do that without your consent!” Koro-sensei reassured her quickly. “What would you like me to do then?”

She frowned, thinking it over. “I don’t know. Maybe try to talk to him?” She sighed. “Or at least be on guard in case he does something stupid.” Her gaze lifted back up to her teacher. “He can be reckless sometimes when he’s convinced it’s for the right reasons.”

Koro-sensei hummed knowingly. “Yes, I know a particular set of students with similar behaviour.”

Mitsuko’s frown deepened. “Huh?”

“You and Karma-kun have a bad tendency of jumping to certain death,” Koro-sensei replied dryly.

“I wasn’t really trying to kill myself!” She scowled. “I was just…”

“Yes?” Koro-sensei asked lightly.

Mitsuko crossed her arms stubbornly. “Okay, fine, so maybe that’s something me and my dad have in common—but that isn’t the point!—just keep an eye on him, okay?”

“I will.” Koro-sensei nodded. “I also might pay him a quick visit to trade a few words before our final little showdown.”

“Showdown? Seriously?” Mitsuko sighed. “You’ve been spending too much time with Fuwa.”

Koro-sensei chuckled. “I’ll have you now I’ve always had a flair for the dramatics!”

She felt a small rise of amusement and felt some of her anxiousness subside. “I can believe that.” She glanced at the time and then stood up. “I need to go home and study.”

Koro-sensei nodded. “If at any point you need my help—“

“All I have to do is call and you’ll swoop down and save us?” Mitsuko half-joked, adjusting her bag.

“Of course,” he replied very seriously, patting her on the head. “All you have to do is ask.”

Mitsuko smiled fondly, feeling some comfort knowing that.

* * *

“Okay, listen up morons because I’m only going to say this twice!” Mitsuko whacked a ruler down in front of Terasaka while Karma grinned wickedly. “We’re talking algebra right now so you better have your formulas in check!”

Karma’s grin widened, tapping the ruler against his hand threateningly. “And if you don’t we’ll make sure to knock it into your thick skulls hard enough to make it stick.”

Sugaya sweated. “Um, can I have a different tutor please?”

“Not on your life!” Mitsuko slammed the ruler down.

They reeled back in alarm.

“Better shape up boys, it’s just bad cop for the next hour,” Karma warned.

“What happened to the good cop?!” Muramatsu asked nervously.

“He got fired—now are you ready to learn!?” Mitsuko yelled.

“No!” Yoshida shouted, looking scared. “You guys are crazy!”

Karma smirked, coming up behind him to whisper in his ear. “Crazy? Oh, please, we haven’t even got started on the long divisions.” Yoshida shivered. “By the time we’re done with that, you won’t be able to sit straight!”

“What does that even mean!?!” Sugaya exclaimed.

Mitsuko smiled sweetly. “It means these rulers are _long_ , s _turdy_ , and ready to educate!”

The four boys sitting at their desks looked horrified.

Despite the initial terror, the boys did start to grasp the formulas.

Mitsuko sat with Terasaka and Muramatsu while Karma helped Sugaya and Yoshida.

“You see what I mean?” She circled the equation. “Don’t let the letters confuse you. The answer is there when you calculate basic logic in subtracting.” She smiled. “The beauty with a lot of maths questions is that the answer is actually quite simple when you break it up and tackle it calmly.”

Terasaka scratched his head, muttering as he tried to work it out. “So, what…it’s like…84 or something?”

Her smile grew. “Exactly!”

“Oh…” He frowned and then smiled. “Hey, …that was pretty basic.”

“Well this is the fundamentals,” she said, shrugging. “But once we understand the approach properly it helps work out harder answers in the future.” She turned the textbook page. “Let’s try something more difficult.”

“Hey!” Rio’s head popped around the corner. “Mind if I interrupt the torture?”

Karma turned around and grinned. “Yeah, so long as you sign a non-disclosure agreement, sure!”

Yoshida was crying and rubbing his forehead. “He hit me…”

Mitsuko smiled and stood up. “Hey.” She walked over to her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Rio lifted a lunch box wrapped in a green cloth. “Just thought maybe we could share lunch again if you’re free?”

Mitsuko’s cheeks heated up. “Um, yeah. I’d love to. Just give me fifteen minutes, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s cool. Just meet me round the back,” Rio said, shrugging.

Muramatsu gave a wolf whistle, earning a whack over the head from Karma’s ruler. “Ow!”

“Sounds great,” Mitsuko replied before heading back to her seat when Rio left.

“So…” Terasaka frowned at her.

“What?” Mitsuko raised an eyebrow.

“…Which one of you is the guy in the relationship?”

She smacked him across the head with her ruler. “Neither! Now shut up before I shove this somewhere that’ll make you a woman!”

“What?!!”

She whacked him again. “What did I say?!”

Terasaka clutched his bruised head. “Okay! Shit! What is wrong with you guys!?”

Karma whacked him across the head. “Don’t disrespect your senseis.”

* * *

Mitsuko tried to chew her food as quietly as possible at breakfast along with her brother.

The entire kitchen was silent and the only other sounds were from the clock ticking away and her dad writing some notes in his study guide for A-Class.

Mom was trying very hard to not make any noise while she loaded the dishwasher with dishes.

Mitsuko swallowed, sipping her orange juice slowly as the hands on the clock ticked by loudly.

It had been like this for nearly two weeks to the point she was starting to forget what it was like to have a real conversation with her family.

She didn’t think it was even possible, but she missed how their breakfasts used to be, even if conversations were stilted…at least there was some fun in the passive-aggressive insults they’d traded with their dad, and at least back then her mom wasn’t completely terrified of their dad.

Mitsuko jumped and spilt some of her orange juice on the table when mom accidentally dropped something in the sink and made a loud noise.

The lead of dad’s pencil snapped as his brow knitted in irritation.

“I-I’m sorry!” Mom apologised quickly, looking over at him fearfully.

Dad sighed while his family watched him anxiously. “It’s fine.” He brushed some of the broken lead off his workbook.

Mom quickly rushed over with a cloth to clean up the spilt juice.

Mitsuko watched her with concern when she saw the dark circles under her eyes.

Dad sighed when he stared the blunt end of the pencil, making them all tense when he closed the workbook. “Oh, well.” He checked his watch. “We all should be heading off soon. The first exam is due to start promptly at nine.”

“Yes, being early is important,” their mom said quickly, scrunching the cloth up in her hands.

Dad glanced at her curiously. “Yes.” He stood up. “Have you spoken to your manager regarding our discussion?”

Mitsuko grimaced, feeling a pit form in her stomach.

“…Not yet.” Mom forced a smile. “We’re also so busy trying to round up the numbers before January. I’ve barely even seen him. Not even for lunch!” She gave a strained laugh. “And you know…now…now really would be a bad time to leave with everything—I mean I only just started…“

Dad stared at her blankly. “I thought we discussed this.”

“Yes, I know…” Mom twisted the cloth so tight drops of the orange juice leaked out. “And I will…if not today then…”

“Didn’t you say you had to arrange a meeting for it?” Gakushuu spoke up, looking at his mom pointedly. “Remember?”

“Yes,” Mitsuko quickly agreed. “And he was out of office last week so there’s bound to be delays meeting with him.”

Mom nodded quickly, taking a deep breath. “Yes. It’s been so hard to get a meeting with him.” She cringed when dad’s eyes narrowed. “But I’ll try Monday! Yes. The latest Monday.”

That seemed to satisfy him for now. “Good.” He opened his briefcase and placed the workbook inside while Mitsuko and Gakushuu grabbed their school bags. “We’ll talk more after then.”

"Yes..." Mom nodded and looked away when he lifted her chin and kissed her on the cheek. 

Mitsuko sighed in relief once their dad finally left the kitchen with his suitcase in tow.

“Mom, you can’t seriously let him make you quit,” she whispered.

“I tried to reason with him but he won’t listen,” mom hissed, looking at the entrance worriedly when his footsteps could still be heard. “It’s like talking to a brick wall.”

“He still can’t force you to quit,” Mitsuko muttered.

Mom grimaced, looking down. “Your father is…things are very tense right now and he isn’t quite himself so it’s best if we don’t try to rile him up right now, alright?”

Gakushuu looked annoyed. “And how long is that going to last?” he hissed, standing up. “Are we just meant to live like this for the foreseeable future?”

“Yeah, even prison isn’t this bad,” Mitsuko whispered, cringing when the front door shut loudly.

“Just…” Mom shook her head and kissed Mitsuko on the cheek. “Just focus on school, alright?” She tried smoothed down Gakushuu’s hair. “You’ve got a lot of tests today and I want you to try your best.”

Gakushuu waved her hand away when she tried to mess with his hair. “I’m always at my best.”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. “Wow, the humility is really shining through.”

Mom sighed and placed a hand on both their shoulders. “Look, I will try to talk to your father again about my job, alright? But that’s for me to worry about, not you.” She pulled them both into a hug. “The only thing I want you to think about is doing your exams. That’s what’s important right now…”

Mitsuko sighed. “Okay…”

Their mom pulled away and kissed them both on the forehead, earning a smile from Mitsuko and a scowl from Gakushuu.

“Now, go do your best.” She ushered them both out of the kitchen.

“We will!” Mitsuko yelled over her shoulder as she and her brother headed out of the house. “And hopefully dad won’t go full berserk as a result.”

Gakushuu wiped his forehead with his sleeve. “Your class better pull through with this.” He wrinkled his nose in disdain. “The fact I had to ask them was humiliating enough.”

“But it did make me proud.” She smiled at him. “And it isn’t that just enough to warm your cold dead heart?”

“No.” He rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m just hoping this actually works and some failure will finally break through the Principal’s delusions.”

“Yeah, me too…for mom’s sake.” Mitsuko smiled grimly. “But if it doesn’t, running away to Shanghai isn’t completely off the table.”

“We’re not going to Shanghai,” he replied irritably. “It’s either California or Taiwan, I’m not settling for less.”

“I just don’t get why you have to hate Shanghai so much?” Mitsuko complained as they walked to school. “And California is overrated –I’m not going there!”

Her brother shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Who says I’m taking you with me?”

Mitsuko frowned faintly at the remark but then smirked. “Like you’d survive without me!” she joked, feeling an odd feeling in her stomach. “I swear, when we grow up, I’m still going to have to fight your corner every time you act like a jerk.”

“I’ll have you know I’ve been told I’m a delight to be around,” he replied lightly.

She snorted. “Your fanclub is delusional and isn’t allowed an opinion.” Then she scowled when she saw the almost warm smile he was giving her. “What?”

“Nothing.” He faced ahead. “Just try not to choke up before the test. Your classmates said you would all be talking it as going in for a kill, I believe was the phrasing?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “All metaphorical of course?”

Mitsuko smiled slyly. “Of course.”

* * *

Mitsuko took a deep breath as she stood up the battle arena of the tests, the first test was English.

Rio smirked and flipped her hammer. “Oh, wow, this one’s a bad boy.”

“No kidding.” Mitsuko grimaced when she looked up at the hundred-foot monster of a question which loomed over them. “Did someone tell the teachers we were skipping to college-level now?!”

Karma smirked. “Aw, come on, don’t start chickening out now. We’ve only just started.”

Mitsuko scowled at him, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she readied her hammer. “As if.”

Nagisa stepped forward with a strong resolve on his face, ready to attack.

“Come on!” Yoshida leapt over to it. “Let’s take it down!”

Kanzaki ran after with the others following suit.

Mitsuko dodged an incoming blow from the monster as Terasaka, Yoshida, and Muramatsu reeled back.

“Didn’t you guys look at the flashcards I gave you?!” she yelled after them.

“THOSE CARDS WERE LIKE A PARAGRAPH LONG!” Yoshida complained.

Mitsuko scowled and trailed up the monster’s toe. “It was for daily memorisation!” she shouted before landing the key blow on the monster’s heel. “You lazy morons!”

“Mitsuko!” Rio called, causing her to turn around when she hopped off the monster’s heel. “Give me a boost!”

She smirked and bent down as Rio ran towards her, once the blonde’s foot hit her hand she launched her in the air to attach the question from the back of the head.

“AH HA!” Rio slammed the hammer on the monster’s skull, taking off a horn.

“Pencil’s down!” The teacher ordered, dragging them back out of the arena.

Mitsuko let out a deep breath when she dropped her pencil. “Wow, dad’s really outdone himself this time…”

“No kidding!” Sugaya loosened his tie as he buried his head in the desk. “I’m wiped out, dude!”

Mimura groaned. “It’s no good, I couldn’t get through them all!”

“This is hard!” Kurahashi complained. “There’ not enough time to answer every single question.”

Kimura leaned back in his chair. “The listening comprehension part was a beast! Not even Bitch-sensei would know what all those vocabulary words meant!”

Mitsuko looked over in concern. “Are you breaking up the words properly? Remember context is key, especially when they use words like read and read in the same sentence.”

“Come on, we have social studies next,” Rio said, looking serious. “No time to waste worrying about things that are already done with.”

Mitsuko nodded. “Right, let’s just keep looking ahead.”

* * *

The tests that followed after were just and brutal, with each question manifesting as a monster from nightmares. Mutated and deformed until it wasn’t even recognisable.

Mitsuko held her sword tight and glared up at the science question, taking a deep breath as she stood at the helm of the question with the other top performers while some of the others were blocked off further back.

“We need to stay focussed on a strategy!” Mitsuko yelled.

Okuda nodded. “Remember, don’t overcomplicate the formula!”

Kataoka rushed in to attack alongside Isogai.

Mitsuko grimaced and ran towards the question.” Okay, we just need to breakdown the elements they listed to figure out what the combination makes!” She dived out the way the question tried to take a blow at her. “Whoa!” Her feet skidded against the sand. “Okay, so maybe not that easy, but it’s still a starting point.” She narrowed her eyes and focussed. “We covered this stuff plenty of times.”

She remembered all the science lessons with Koro-sensei where he’d use it as an excuse to eat junk food or make something bubble over.

Mitsuko trailed up the monsters back towards where the weak point would reveal the answer. “Don’t just think of the elements as separate!” She leapt over it and dug the end of her sword hard into the weak point like the skin was made of butter. “It’s a lot more flexible than you think!”

The monster exploded into a sparkled of blue.

She landed on the ground and let out an exhausted breath. “Can the next one not be as tall please!?”

“Aw! But aren’t you having fun!” Karma teased kicking the scraps of the monster to the side. “We haven’t even reached maths yet!”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. “I swear, metaphorical arena or not, I will stab you.”

Karma just grinned and carried onto the next question like a child in a candy store.

She sighed and worked to regain her energy. “He’s right about Math though…”

Before she knew it the next test manifested into something like an invasion, attacking from all corners.

Mitsuko jumped and parried to avoid the bows, tossing the sword away to pick up a machine gun. “It’s nearly over,” she reminded herself, blasting through the next set of questions like they were tin cans on a wall. “We’ve got one last shot to finish this.”

She ran towards the questions, manoeuvring through the slip-ups and overcomplicated phrasing so she could get to the heart of it.

* * *

“Times up! Pencil’s down!”

The whole class nearly collapsed on their desks in exhaustion.

Mitsuko groaned, resting her head on her test when she felt her brain overheat. “Did anyone get to the last question?”

“The last question, I barely made it passed half the test!” Sugaya scratched his head. “The first part was doable but towards the end, it was like my brain was going to explode!”

There were a lot of nods and murmurs of agreement.

Mitsuko grimaced and stared down at her test, closing until her name was shown on the front. “Guess, we’ll just have to see who made it farthest.”

* * *

When the day of results came, Koro-sensei stood at the front of the class with envelopes in hand.

“Alright class, let’s all have a look at your compiled exam papers,” Koro-sensei said as he opened up the envelope. “Did those crucial second blades manage to pierce their intended targets? I wonder…”

Mitsuko held her breath, her hands trembling on her lap as the whole class waited.

“No splitting hairs over a point or two,” Koro-sensei cautioned. “Understood?” In a flash he delivered them all their papers. “the only thing we’re concerned with right now is whether these scores secured a place for you in the top fifty.”

Mitsuko gulped and felt her vision feel fuzzy from nerves as she looked at the papers.

“If I’m not mistaken the main campus should be posting the results all to see as we speak.” Koro-sensei held up a long poster, drawing their attention back to him. “So I see no reason we can’t do the same in E Class.”

He unrolled the poster and stuck it to the blackboard.

Mitsuko’s legs felt like jelly as she stood up and hurried to the front like her classmates.

There was a small gasp as they stared up at the hundred of names in awe.

“Y-you’re kidding me,” Terasaka stuttered. “I’m 46th?!”

_He was ranked 46 th._

_That dumbass ranked 46 th!!!_

_…Then that meant…_

“Isn’t Terasaka dead last even here though?”

“if he came in 46th then that must mean…” Rio trailed off as they read through the names.

They tossed jumped up in the air.

“WE DID IT!!!”

“Karma, dude, you got first place!!”

Karma looked shocked as he stared at the results.

“I ranked third?” Mitsuko nearly choked on air.

Ranked 3rd with 465 points.

She hadn’t gotten that high ever!

“Aw, Mitsu, I wanted that spot,” Rio groaned, looking at her rank which was 4th, while Isogai followed at 5th. “I need bragging against Asano.”

Mitsuko smiled sweetly. “Heh. Sorry!”

“Hey, bragging rights go to Karma!” Maehara laughed. “Dude, you completely dethroned him!”

“That’s never happened before,” Mitsuko couldn’t quite believe the name ranking.

“Feels pretty good doesn’t it!” Koro-sensei said slyly, patting Karma on the head. “Earning the highest rank on such an unforgiving battlefield.”

Karma’s cheeks turned pin, looking away. “Uh, yeah sure whatever, I guess so…yeah.”

“Are you blushing?” Mitsuko smirked.

“No!” Karma went even redder.

Mitsuko took a quick photo. “Too late.” She smiled sweetly. “This is beautiful blackmail material.”

Karma glared at her while Koro-sensei chuckled. “It appears your contest with Asano the perfectionist came to a head on that last, and I must say, particularly thorny math problem.”

Karma’s smile was small and almost fond. “Yeah well, about that, not sure I could say exactly why but if I hadn’t spent the last year with you, I don’t think I could have solved it.”

Mitsuko stared at him curiously, feeling something warm grow in her chest when she looked at her classmates. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Sugaya grinned, shoving his ranking in her face. “Dude! 44th!” He looked so happy. “I can’t believe I actually got this far.”

She smiled in amusement. “Well, I did tell you I’d beat those answers into you one way or another.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t take all the credit.” He smirked, staring at his results. “This means I can get into whatever school I want…” His smile grew sheepish. “Uh, granted I can pass the entrance exams.”

Mitsuko smiled fondly. “You will.” Then her smile widened. “Because if you don’t I’ll be chasing you with that ruler.” She picked one up from under a desk. “And trust me, if you think prep for finals was hard, just wait until you get a load of my pre-entrance exams revision tutoring!”

Sugaya now looked scared. “Why do you do this…?”

“Hah! Those A-Class dillweeds! What I wouldn’t give to see the looks on their faces!” Okajima exclaimed.

“I bet you anything they wouldn’t have thought in a million years they’d lose to us,” Maehara said.

Mitsuko’s brow furrowed when she thought of Gakushuu and the others. “No, definitely now…” She took out her phone and sent a quick message to her brother.

 ** **:Please tell me A Class isn’t contemplating suicide at this point?:**** She quickly texted and added a nervous Emoji.

“Yeah, well that’s what they get,” Rio spoke up, shrugging. “No matter who you are, nobody’s bloodlust holds out for that long.” Her smile was almost pitying. “Even after intensive assassination drills, it’s next to impossible to stay in that frame of mind for an entire day.” She leaned against a desk. “If you expect to boost your system on bloodlust, cramming isn’t the way to go.” Her smile grew fond when she looked at Mitsuko. “You have to nurture it over time. Slow and steady.”

Mitsuko blushed when she saw her looking at her. “Rio…”

“Oh, just kiss already,” Karma remarked bluntly, destroying the moment.

“S-shut up!” Mitsuko yelled, turning bright pink.

Karma smirked and snapped a picture on his phone. “Now we’re even.” He flipped his phone in his hand. “I’m sorry, what was that about blackmail?”

“You are such a pig!” Mitsuko snapped.

* * *

Later on in the day after lunch, Koro-sensei faced them with a cup of tea in his hand.

“Well boys and girls, you’ve officially qualified to be transferred out of E Class,” he told them while they watched in amusement. “Anyone here ready to leave the mountain.”

Mitsuko chuckled when she saw nearly everyone draw their knives.

“Yeah, you’d like that wouldn’t you?” Maehara replied cockily.

“I don’t think so, we found our second blades,” Mimura said, smiling. “This is where things get serious.”

“Yeah, plus, A-Class really isn’t that great.” Mitsuko shared an amused smile with Takebayashi across the room. “Plus, I’m pretty sure my old teacher would try to strangle me if I ever—“ She paused when he phone vibrated loudly under her desk. “Oh.”

Mitsuko quickly grabbed her phone to look at it.

“No phones during class, Mitsuko.” Koro-sensei wagged his tentacle.

She smiled apprehensively. “I know! Sorry, sir.” She quickly opened the text message. “I just need to check if my…” She trailed off when she read the message from Ren “What…?”

 ** **: YOUR DAD HIT GAKUSHUU!!! GET HERE NOW!!:**** There was also lots of panicked emojis that followed after.

Her chest tightened painfully as she stood up. “Oh, no…”

Her classmates looked over worriedly.

“What is it?” Sugaya asked.

“Is everything okay?” Nagisa looked concerned.

She gripped the phone tight. “My dad….hit my brother.”

The whole idea seemed wrong because Gakushuu would be the last person their dad would hit.

_I can imagine dad hitting me or mom, but Gakushuu? He doesn’t rile him up like we do. He isn’t overemotional._

“What?!” Sugaya exclaimed.

“Shit, is he okay?” Rio asked.

She quickly stood up, feeling like she’d be sick. “I need to go check—“

Suddenly the whole campus shook as if an earthquake had hit all at once.

Mitsuko grabbed onto her desk to stop herself from hitting the ground. “What the hell is happening?!”

Kataoka ran to the window to look outside. “Our building!!”

Mitsuko rushed over to the window along with the others to see. “What the…?”

_A massive crane was taking a chunk out of their building!_

“Evacuate the premises, please.”

Mitsuko felt her blood run cold when she recognised the calm voice. “Dad…”

“Principal Asano!” The students exclaimed.

The Principal smiled at them thinly. “The board reached a unanimous decision,” he said coldly while they all watched in shock. “The old campus building is to be demolished today.”

Mitsuko grimaced while her classmates gawked.

“Oh, don’t worry you’ll be moved to an affiliate school slated to open next year,” her dad explained lightly. “We need students to performance test their new facilities.”

“Wait! You’re farming us out somewhere!?” Muramatsu yelled.

"I knew we should have destroyed those assets!" Ritsu said from her main box. 

Mitsuko cringed. "Yeah, hindsight really is a bitch..." She looked back at her dad who smiling at them like this was all good news. 

“It’s not all that bad,” her dad said evenly. “Let us call it a social experiment.” His gaze was cold. “The building is state of the art, with closed-circuit surveillance cameras, an escape-proof architecture. It’s similar to a prison.” He seemed pleased by that. “ A culmination of my educational philosophy.”

“Has your dad gone crazy?” Sugaya whispered in horror.

“…Uh, yeah he’s been passed that point for a while now,” Mitsuko replied nervously. "I'd say we're right on the edge at this point."

“B-but you can’t move us right now!” Nagisa stammered.

“We won’t go!” Sugino said firmly. “We’re graduating from this campus.”

“Dad! You can’t do this!” Mitsuko started to feel her temper grow. “You lost and none of this is going to change that!”

Her dad looked at her coldly. “On the contrary, Mitsuko, I’ve anything but lost.”

She stared at him in confusion as her dread grew. “What are you talking about?”

Koro-sensei appeared outside in front of the Principal. “I see you’ll spare nothing to see your methods vindicated.”

He smiled slyly. “Correct.” Her dad reached into his blazer pocket. “Oh, and incidentally your services will no longer be required.” He pulled out a piece of paper. “Yes, I’m afraid so. This is the part where I terminate you.”

Mitsuko stomach lurched.

_Oh, shit._

* * *

****A/N Heheh. Sorry, Rio. Tbf with the extra character added someone had to be moved down a rank, and I really needed Mitsuko to reach close to her brother's spot for character development purposes. So some canon had to be tweaked a bit more.** **


	48. Oh, you're sorry are you?

**A/N: Am I maybe a little too obsessed with this story right now? Probably, but when inspiration hits like a truck, you just have to go with it.**

* * *

Mitsuko felt every muscle tighten uncomfortably as she watched and listened to her dad explaining how he was going to kill Koro-sensei.

She and the rest of the class were watching from the window while Koro-sensei stood at the centre of the classroom surrounded by five desks with five different workbooks while her dad paced around him.

"I've prepared five textbooks," the Principal explained. "And five hand grenades. Four of them are anti-sensei grenades." He gestured t the grenades. "While the fifth...is a normal grenade."

Mitsuko's stomach lurched. "What?!"

Her dad remained calm and picked up a grenade. "They are completely identical in appearance and odour." His finger curled around the pin. "And I've made it so that they explode the moment you pull the pin and release the lever."

Karasuma and Bitch-sensei watched from around the doorway apprehensively, staring at her dad like he was insane.

"Why the hell are you using a real grenade!?" Mitsuko yelled, leaning against the open window. "Dad, this is—"

"All assassination requires some level of risk, Mitsuko," her dad replied lightly like it wasn't his life on the line. "And if you were paying attention, you'd realise it's a well-considered one."

"That's doesn't..." She grimaced, running the numbers in her head. From a logic standpoint, the math pointed in her dad's favour since it was 20% chance...

_20%..._

Rio reached out and held her hand. "Don't worry, he's not actually going to get himself killed," she whispered.

Mitsuko's stomach twisted. "Right..."

"And now I'll pull the pins." He pulled out the pins and put then under the textbooks. "Set then in the proper workbooks pages. And pinch them so that the workbooks prevent the levers from moving." He explained. "Now open the workbook and solve the problem on the upper right." Koro-sensei was sweating. "However, he is not allowed to move until he solves the problem."

Hara looked alarmed. "But-but the moment he opens the workbook the lever will—!"

"Yes!" Dad smiled widely. "He'll almost certainly bear the brunt of the explosion!" he said brightly. "First, he'll solve four books, and then I'll do the remaining one." He leaned close to Koro-sensei menacingly. "And here's the gamble. If you can kill me or make me give up, I'll allow you and Class E to Stay here." He smiled. "Now let's see...Terasaka. I want you to calculate the probability that Koro-sensei will win."

Mitsuko looked over at Terasaka who scowled.

"...Well...if an anti-sensei grenade blows up, it won't do anything to you so to kill you, he has to make sure he doesn't get the real grenade." He grimaced, taking a moment to think. "4/5 X ¾ X 2/3 X ½ + 1/5. Only 20%."

"Correct!" The Principal replied brightly.

Mitsuko's eyes widened in surprise. "You did listen!" She smiled brightly. "You actually looked at my flashcards on percentages!?"

Terasaka looked annoyed. "Only because you were shoving them in my face!" He glared at her father. "Also! The octopus has to survive four dead grenades in a row. But if things get too hairy for you, you just have to give up and walk away without a scratch!" He gritted his teeth. "This game is totally rigged in your favour!"

Her dad smirked. "Terasaka, when you graduate you'll find that society is just as unfair as this," he said lightly. "Especially in the differences between the strong and the weak." He patted Koro-sensei on the back. "And that's why I've come to teach you to join the side of the strong."

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed, gritting her teeth. "Like hell that's ever happening!"

The Principal was delusional if he thought this of all things would convert them to his side. They were killing Koro-sensei together as a class, and there was no way in hell he was taking away that victory from them!

She stiffened as Koro-sensei apprehensively moved to the first book and—

He was flustered in second, sweating and scrambling like he had when her dad had first throw that puzzle at him.

Mitsuko flinched when the book exploded, spraying the pink pellets everywhere.

She and the others ducked as the pellets bounced off the wall. "Shit," she swore, staring in shock when half of Koro-sensei's face looked blown off. "No..."

Mitsuko gripped the edge of the window tight, feeling something ugly and fearful mix in her stomach.

She may not want her dad to die but Koro-sensei couldn't die like this either!

"The weak can only hope to kill the strong through assassination," her dad said smugly. "But the strong can eliminate the weak however and whenever they desire." He curled his hand into a fist. "I shall sow this truth across the nation!" His voice grew darker. "With the money, the ministry of defence has given me, as well as the bounty on your head, I'll make the whole country my escalator school!"

"Just how much can you love education!" Fuwa exclaimed.

Mitsuko grimaced, balling her hands into fists. "More than anything else..."

Nagisa and the others looked over at her in concern.

"You don't have to watch this," Sugaya said quietly.

She scowled. "Yes, I do." She glared at her dad as Koro-sensei moved to the next book. "Koro-sensei's my teacher. Whatever happens, you guys are the ones I want to be with."

Sugaya smiled faintly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"All done!" Koro-sensei surprised them all when he solved the textbook easily.

"Wait, what?" Mitsuko looked up.

Her dad's eyes widened in disbelief.

"In this workbook series, I've memorised just about every problem on every page!" Koro-sensei said brightly. "The only hard part was the math, I lent it to the students for a while so I forgot how to do that one!"

The Principal was completely silent for a moment. "Wait...you just happened to have memorised the specific workbooks I bought with me?"

"Oh, no! See, I've memorised all of the workbooks in Japan!" Koro-sensei replied brightly. "I figured I should at least put in that much effort if I wanted to be a teacher." He completed the next book.

Mitsuko watched in amazement as he raced onto the third book while the Principal watch him in stunned silence.

"The rule was that I couldn't step away from the grenades until the problems were solved so a passionate teacher would be able to clear the challenge," Koro-sensei said pleasantly. "I thought for sure that you, of all people, would understand me, but unfortunately." He completed the next book. "It seems that seeing the defeat in your students has disturbed your mind, but you sealed your fate by trying to take the easy assassination route." He completed the fourth book. "Only one workbook left. Your turn."

Everything seemed to stop and slow down when he said that.

Mitsuko looked at the last book, and then her father who was stood there in complete silence.

"So Director Asano," Koro-sensei said. "Will you open your book?"

The Principal stared at the book for a long time.

 _He wasn't really going to open it,_ she told herself. _He wasn't an idiot._

"As excellent as you may be, even you can't open a book with a grenade and escape unscathed," Koro-sensei said. "And I don't believe that is something your daughter would like to see."

Mitsuko felt her classmates draw nearer around her.

"He's not really gonna do it," Terasaka told her. "Guy's just a sore loser. He'll back out."

"Hey, you're the one who made the bet!" Yoshida taunted. "If you don't want to die, just be a man and admit defeat."

The look her dad gave Yoshida made the boy scream shrilly and hide behind Mitsuko.

"AH!" Yoshida trembled behind her.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "You're such a pussy."

"Furthermore," Kataoka said sternly. "Even if you fire Koro-sensei it won't make a difference to us."

Kanzaki smiled. "It would be tough to leave this building but we'd follow Koro-sensei where he went!"

Koro-sensei was crying. "Really!?"

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at her dad. "Dad, just stop," she said, gaining his attention when he stared at her. "You can't change what's happened!" she told him fiercely. "A Class failed and the only thing you're doing is hanging onto something that's broken!"

Her dad stared at her for a long time. "You're absolutely right, Mitsuko," he said quietly, making her near reel back in bewilderment. "I can't change Class A's failure. That is the point of failure—as I said, we live in an unfair society. I've always reminded you of that...." He stared at the textbook. "I may not be able to change their failure, but my educational system is still in place."

Her hands were clamming up with sweat. "you're not making any sense—"

"This year, you Class E students...have been a significant obstruction to my education." The Principal's eyes narrowed darkly. "Time and time again throughout the school year, you've done nothing but openly strike back at me."

_He's not going to do it._

Mitsuko felt her skin crawl, moving to the edge of the window. "Dad..."

Rio grabbed her hand. "Mitsuko—"

"Koro-sensei," her dad moved towards the book. "Here's the thing about my educational system."

_He's not going to..._

"Dad!"

"Even if you destroyed the planet. It wouldn't matter at all."

_He's not..._

He opened the book.

Mitsuko's eyes widened in horror and felt the air leave her body like someone had sucked the life out of her.

"DAD!!"

Karma, Sugaya, and Rio grabbed her and held her back before she could lunge forward into the classroom, tackling her to the grass as the explosion ripped through.

_He's not..._

Mitsuko's eyes welled up with tears, shoving her friends away. "Get off me!" she screamed at them when they loosened their hold. "DAD!"

She threw herself at the edge of the window and looked in as the smoke started to clear.

"Dad!" Her eyes stung badly that it hurt to see. "Da—" She froze when she saw a strange gelatine substance finally appear when most of the smoke cleared. "Dad?"

"Whoa!" Sugaya coughed, waving the smoke away as the rest of her classmates peered him.

The Principal was on the floor, completely protected by Koro-sensei's shed skin.

Koro-sensei chuckled, removing the old skin from her father. "Have you forgotten about my shedding?" he asked in amusement. "Immediately after I remove it, my skin can withstand even the explosion of the grenade."

Mitsuko stared at her father in shock when he was completely unharmed.

_He's alive!_

She felt a burst of relief, and then.

_He's alive..._

Her relief turned to rage when she felt the tears slide down her cheeks.

_That fucking bastard!_

Koro-sensei was talking but it all felt like a blur as Mitsuko felt her whole body start to shake from rage.

_He was going to kill himself._

_The selfish fucking bastard was going to let himself die just to prove a point!!_

Mitsuko gritted her teeth hard as an uncontrollable bloodlust spread from her fingers to her toes like centipedes crawling into every corner.

"...Teaching not to kill, but to ensure survival." Koro-sensei handed her dad the anti-sensei knife. "From now on, let's continue to stick to this idea education—"

A desk went flying too close to the Principal's head when it was kicked across the room, sending it smashing into the wall.

The Principal and Koro-sensei both froze.

"You son of a bitch."

Mitsuko ground her teeth, her foot positioned on the table of another desk, aiming it towards her dad.

Her entire expression was darkened with hatred, making her eyes glow a bloodthirsty purple in the darkness.

Dad stared at her with an alarmed look. "Mitsuko..."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

She hurled kicked the second desk at him, making him and Koro-sensei have to move out of the way.

"Mitsuko, cool it!" Sugaya yelled in distress.

Rio stared at her in shock. "Mitsuko..."

"Dude, you destroyed my desk!" Mimura was crying.

Okajima cried. "Mine too!"

"Mitsuko! Let's go back to healthy bloodlust, please!" Koro-sensei pleaded, looking nervous.

She ignored them and glared at her father. "Stop lying about wanting the best for everyone when the only thing you ever do is make things worse!" She rested her foot on the leg of the desk. "You _hit_ Gakushuu. You _failed_ A-Class. You _failed_ as a father and you're a failure of a teacher!"

Her dad stared at her with wide eyes, gripping tightly the knife Koro-sensei had given him. The fact he even had it made her blood boil more.

"And you thought you could just take the easy way out so you didn't have to live with how disgusting of a human being you are?!" She felt more tears slide down her cheeks. "YOU'RE A COWARD!"

Her dad rushed out of the way when the desk came sliding across the floor and crashed into the boards at the back of the room.

"You can't even face the truth when it's staring right at you," she snarled. "You think we'll thank you for everything you've done? Mom can't even look at you!" She slammed her hands on the desk, feeling her vision blur up. "The best thing you could have damn well done is leave! But..." She choked, closing her eyes tight. "YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT RIGHT!"

Her dad's hand landed on the desk before she could kick it.

Mitsuko felt a lump in her throat as she stared up at him darkly.

The whole class was completely silent as the two of them stared at each other as the minutes ticked by.

"...No, I couldn't," dad's voice was soft, removing his hand from the desk. "I failed you." He smiled grimly. "I failed our family."

She shook as she stared up at him while her foot trembled against the leg of the desk.

"I worried about you. You're emotions, your attachments." He used his thumb to wipe away the tears underneath her eye. "But you're stronger in more ways than I'll ever be." Something in his gaze was remorseful. "I'm sorry."

_He was...sorry..._

Her eyes welled up with more tears, pushing him away as she choked back a sob.

The hatred that fuelled the bloodlust simmered and weighed down with an overwhelming sadness.

_'Sorry' didn't make what happened magically disappear and 'sorry' didn't change the fact that he'd hurt Gakushuu._

_Sorry wasn't good enough._

Mitsuko wiped her eyes and stared at him, shaking her head. "Tell that to Gakushuu."

He gave a faint flinch, looking down as his hand curled into a fist where his knuckles were bruised.

She felt a fiery protectiveness rise up in her when she saw the marks on his hand.

Why was she even wasting time with him when Gakushuu needed her?

Mitsuko wiped her eyes and walked towards the doorway without a second glance at her classmates or her father.

* * *

She sniffled and tried to dry the rest of her eyes, but she knew she must look her a mess, but now wasn't the time to waste washing her face or trying to look presentable when Gakushuu was injured.

Mitsuko followed the route to the nurses' office and then baulked when she saw all of the A-Class gathered outside like they were in an emergency room.

They all looked exhausted like they'd been through hell and had survived off the abrest amount of sleep.

Kondo was the first to notice her when she approached. "Mitsuko!"

Juba stood up from where he'd been curled up on the floor. "Are you okay?"

Mitsuko grimaced. "I'm fine..." She moved towards the entrance to the nurses' office. "Is he...?"

"Yeah, it's all good," Tsuda said. "Nothing was broken."

"But his face is ruined!" Fujii cried.

"IT WAS HORRIBLE!" Miura looked close to tears. "He's scarred for life!"

"Uh..." Mitsuko raised an eyebrow.

Hashizume rolled his eyes. "He's not scarred for life!" Then he frowned. "Well not physically..."

"I'm scarred emotionally for life," Aoi muttered.

Mitsuko sighed grimly. "Yeah, my dad has that effect on people."

A-Class all looked grim, avoiding her gaze.

"He's inside with the other four," Kanada told her, fidgeting.

Mitsuko nodded, walking over to the door.

"Um, congratulations on the scores..."Kondo spoke up, making her pause when she touched the door handle. "You guys were pretty amazing..." 

She frowned and looked over her shoulder at them. "...Thanks." She smiled faintly and then went inside the office.

When she opened the door, Araki was re-arranging to medical pamphlets on the filing cabinet. Koyama had plasters stuck on his fingers which he was trying to pull off, and Seo was discreetly trying to steal condoms from a drawer near the medical bed, while Nurse Ueda looked ready to kill them all.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow and looked over at the medical examination table where her brother was sat with a large white bandage covering the whole right-hand side of his cheek, while Ren was sat next to him showing him something on his phone; Gakushuu looked bored.

"Uh..." She cleared her throat.

Everyone in the room turned to look over.

Gakushuu immediately narrowed his eyes at Ren. "I told you not to tell her yet."

Ren frowned. "But she's your sister!"

Nurse Uedo sighed. "Right, that's it, everyone who isn't family needs to wait outside!" She grabbed Seo and Koyama by their sleeves, pulling away from their meddling. "Outside, now!"

Mitsuko smiled in amusement and stepped to the side as the boys were herded out of the room.

"Hey! Watch it!" Seo complained. "This shirt's dry cleaned!"

Nurse Uedo gritted her teeth and threw him and Koyama out of the room so they landed on their faces.

"O-Okay, we're going!" Araki gave a nervous laugh as he apprehensively backed out of the room with his hands raised. "See you in a bit, Asano!"

Ren smiled and slipped off the bed, patting Gakushuu lightly on the shoulder. "We'll send the rest of the class home so it's not too overwhelming."

"Yes, see that you do."Gakushuu frowned but then added. "...Thank you."

Ren smiled warmly. "No problem."

Mitsuko shared a smile with Ren as he passed. "Thanks for the heads up."

He smiled brightly. "No problem." Then his smile wavered when he glanced at Gakushuu. "...Take care of him, okay?"

She nodded. "I'll text you late."

The Nurse Uedo ushered Ren out before looking over at Mitsuko. "I'll give you some time but I'll need to clean up the office before school closes."

"That's fine." Mitsuko nodded. "Thank you."

Nurse Uedo hummed, shutting the door behind her as she started to shoo A-Class away.

From the medical table, she heard her brother sigh in exasperation. "I don't understand why everyone is making such a big deal out of—"

Mitsuko raced across the group and pulled him into a hug, making him wince. "You should have texted me as soon as you could!" She pulled away and looked at the bandage on his face. "How hard did he hit you?"

Her brother frowned, looking down. "...Not that hard."

Her eyes narrowed. "Gakushuu..."

"It's fine." He scowled, rubbing his arm as he raised his gaze. "I—wait, have you been crying?"

Mitsuko sighed, sitting next to him on the table. "It's been an emotional day..." She looked at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he replied, tracing a finger lightly down the bandage. "It doesn't really bother me that much." He shrugged. "Compared to everything else...in all honesty it's more of a relief actually."

She nodded grimly, understanding. "I guess it would be."

"...And it was satisfying seeing him finally crack." Her brother smirked darkly. "You should have seen his face, it was glitching out and everything!" He looked pleased. "He finally broke, and in front of everyone and everything."

"Can you please not sound so happy about it?" Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "He hit you, Gakushuu!"

He shrugged, resting his hand lightly on his bandage. "It was still worth it..."

If he wasn't already injured she would have given him a matching bruise on his other cheek.

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "You're impossible..."

He smirked, looking quite pleased with himself. "At least I have enough proof for a lawsuit now." The smirk grew. "We could drain him for millions!"

Mitsuko groaned, running a hand over her face. "You're making it really hard for me to resist hitting you."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's classed as assault—I could press charges on you as well."

"Not if I kill you first," she replied dryly, lifting her face from her hand. "You're making being an only child seem more appealing every time you open your mouth."

"My lawyers would have you strung and quartered before you even had the chance to bury the body."

"I have powerful friends." She smirked, nudging his arm. "So watch out."

He hummed like he was giving it some thought. "We'll see."

Mitsuko shook her head. "Well, I'm glad you're okay." She grimaced. "I nearly had a heart attack when Ren texted...and then with dad..." She sighed. "It's been a hard day."

Her brother's gaze narrowed. "Did the Principal—?"

"Yes." Her chest tightened. "He stopped by and tried to destroy the old campus with a crane."

"What?!" Gakushuu's eyes widened. "Why?"

She sighed tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Because our father is crazy, Gakushuu."

"...Fair point." He looked at her up and down critically. "He didn't...?" His mouth twisted into a grimace. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Mitsuko stared a spot on the floor, feeling her skin prickle when flashes of the explosion came reeling back. She felt something numb and cold twist in her stomach.

"Mitsuko?" Her brother's voice grew concerned.

She took a deep breath, shaking a little. "Dad tried to kill himself."

There was a long pause of silence as her brother spent a long time staring at her like he'd misheard.

"He...our father tried to kill himself?" Gakushuu repeated slowly.

Mitsuko swallowed dryly, nodding. "He failed." She stared at her hands on her lap. "I told him he couldn't even do that right."

Her brother stayed quiet for a while until his hand reach out and held hers, his fingers trembling faintly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that..." he muttered.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, keeping her gaze low. "He told me he was sorry." Her gaze shifted to her brother who looked confused.

"...He apologised?" Gakushuu looked almost sceptical.

She felt her stomach twist when she remembered the remorse in his eyes. "Yeah, he apologised."

"...And what did you say?" His brow knitted faintly.

She gave him a look. "What do you think?"

His mouth set in a grave line. "Well did he expect?"

"...I don't think he expected much of a response," Mitsuko murmured, touching her cheek where the tears had dried up. "But an apology isn't enough."

"...No, it's not." Gakushuu sighed, squeezing her hand as he looked up. "But it means he's finally starting to grow..." He grimaced, touching the bandage again. "Which is a miracle itself considering how stubborn he is." A small smirk started to grow on his face again. "But it's good. It means he's finally listening."

Huh.

Mitsuko felt some amusement start to ease into her chest drying away some of the sadness. "Did you get a concussion?" She knocked his head. "Because I swear that sounded a lot like that hippy bullshit you keep complaining about."

He scowled, whacking her hand away. "Far from it." His scowl twisted. "It's pure observation."

"Right." She smirked, kicking her legs against the air. "Well, you're handling defeat better than I expected..."

His eyes narrowed. "If you think I'm going to give Akabane the satisfaction of seeing me wallow in self-pity then you're mistaken."

She arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Come high school I'll be back on top dominating the rankings." He balled his hand into a fist. "I'm the best for a reason."

Mitsuko felt a warm glow of pride. "I'd expect nothing less." Then her smile grew sly. "But you know, third place isn't far off first." She leaned back, resting her hands on the table. "I think I might just try to beat you."

Her brother's eyes widened briefly, but the shock wore off quickly when he started to look amused. "That's a bold statement." He smirked, placing a hand on his chest. "As amusing as defeating you would be, I wouldn't want you to get too upset over losing."

She flicked his forehead, earning a scowl. "Just wait and see."

The scowl faded quickly from his face as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll make sure to keep my guard up then." He looked amused. "But, in all seriousness, you did perform well." He placed a hand on her head, making her smile. "Well done. You earned it."

Her smile grew warm. "Thanks."

"Now the only thing left to deal with is dad," Gakushuu said.

"Dad?" She raised an eyebrow. "Since when is he 'dad' now?"

Her brother tensed a little, shrugging. "Well, he did show his more fatherly side."

Mitsuko grimaced. "By hitting you?" 

"...It is something parents tend to do," he replied lightly, staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "And it isn't as if we didn't already know he really is an awful father." He sighed. "As I said, it's sort of relieving..."

Mitsuko's brow furrowed for a second until she did start to understand.

"Like a release of pressure," she said after thinking it over, remembering her own bloodlust from earlier. "Once it's all out in the open, what else is there, right?"

"Besides ten years of childhood trauma?" Gakushuu commented dryly, picking at his nails. "No, I suppose there isn't."

"...So, what are we going to do with him?" Mitsuko asked the question.

_It was like a fever had peaked, leaving behind exhaustion and hazy clarity._

"Well, we still need to dominate him," Gakushuu replied. "And he is vulnerable right now—if we're lucky, mom might actually divorce him."

"You really think so?" she asked curiously

He shrugged after a moment. "No. Not really." He frowned. "Though imagining him eating microwavable meals for the foreseeable future does warm my heart."

She laughed, feeling the last of her sadness dry up as her brother smiled at her fondly.

* * *

Mitsuko dug her heel into the door of her dad's car while she stood with Gakushuu.

Poor Oshin sighed in exasperation when he saw where her foot was. "Asano-sama..." the old man said quietly.

She smiled half-apologetically. "Sorry, Oshin." She removed her foot for his sake since he really didn't deserve having to get the car repainted.

Gakushuu sighed, crossing his arms as he leaned against the car. "You're such a brat."

Mitsuko flashed him a dazzling smile before it faded a second later when she saw their dad approach. "Here he is..."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow at their father when he approached. "And so Mr Perfect crumbles," he mocked. "Judging by your face, you look like you've lost again, dad."

Their father seemed to notice the change of address. "You want something, Asano?"

"Nope," Gakushuu replied easily. "This wound dropped me down to number five hottie in Class A." He pointed at his face, making Mitsuko snort. "I just thought that'd console you for your non-stop losses."

"Yeah, we're suing you," Mitsuko said, crossing her arms. "You do know it's also illegal to drug your children with an outdated and non-distributable chemical, right?"

"That would require some manner of actual sense," her brother commented, looking dismissive. "And considering the level stupidity he's shown, I wouldn't give him too much credit."

The Principal's smile twitched. "Considering how much time I've invested in you both, I'd be insulted if you didn't try to at least drain me of some of my finances."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes. "Mom's going to have questions."

"Yes." Dad looked away. "She will."

"I'm not apologising for what I said earlier," Mitsuko told him firmly, crossing her arms. "And frankly, you're lucky we're only going to sue you and not alternative methods." She scowled. "Because as fathers go, you really are an abusive prick."

Gakushuu's eyes narrowed. "And a poor excuse of a human being really."

Mitsuko glanced at her brother. "Did we also mention a failure? I feel we didn't say that enough."

Gakushuu nodded. "We'll make sure to file it in the lawsuit."

"I won't deny I've made my mistakes," Dad's face stayed carefully blank. "If you want to sue me and try to fight me in court, that's fine by me," he said calmly, walking towards the door of the car as Oshin watched them all nervously. "No matter how much you grow you'll never defeat me."

Gakushuu stiffened, scrutinising him. "Oh, yeah? What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm continuing to grow too," he said, smiling faintly when he looked at them both. "Both as a teacher...and a father."

Mitsuko exchanged a wary look with her brother for a second.

"Get in then." Dad sighed. "Considering how angry your mother will be with me, you should be happy." His smile was tight. "You can tell me all about suing me on the way home."

She hesitated, looking at her brother again before they looked back at their father.

Being alone with their dad would have seemed terrifying less than a day ago, but now...honestly even if he tried to do his worst, she didn't feel afraid anymore.

Even with some apprehension, the monster her dad was seemed less frightening than before, like a beast that had been declawed.

For the first time, he looked _weak, l_ ike the monster from her childhood had been stripped down to a husk and left in the shadows.

Mitsuko sighed, opening the car door. "We're going to drain you dry—and I'm not even joking."

A faint smirk crept onto her brother's face as he got into the car after her. "I already had Class A sign up as witnesses. The photos are quite damming."

* * *

When all three of them entered the house and saw mom in the hallway her gaze immediately shifted to the bruise blossoming under the plaster on Gakushuu's cheek. "What on earth?" She dropped the cloth she was holding and rushed over to him. "What happened to your face?"

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at the Principal who was stood quietly in the doorway, watching mom fuss over Gakushuu.

"It's fine," her brother murmured, looking embarrassed when their mom cupped his cheek. "It's barely even a scratch."

"This is not just a scratch." Mom's brow was knitted, keeping hold of his jaw when he tried to squirm away. "Did someone hit you?" Her eyes narrowed when he looked away. "Sweetie, I asked you a question." She shifted his chin so he had to look at her. "Did someone hit you?"

Mitsuko kept her gaze trained on their father, who looked like he was going to be sick.

"Gakushu?" Mom looked at her son sternly, making him sigh in loudly.

"I hit him," dad finally said.

"What are you talking about?" Mom frowned, drawing Gakushuu close as she wrapped an arm around him.

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat and moved closer to her mom and brother while dad stayed quiet for a little longer.

"I hit our son," dad repeated calmly, meeting his wife's gaze.

Mom held Gakushuu closer. "Why would...why would you even...?"

Dad took a deep breath as he stared at his family. "I...I was frustrated and angry of my failure," he said slowly. "And I wanted to take it out on the nearest person available." He swallowed, letting out a measured breath. "There's no justifiable reason for it."

Mom stared at her husband in complete silence for a long moment. "You...you hit our son?" Her voice was low and measured. "You...you did this?" She gestured to Gakushuu's cheek while he was trying very hard to keep his gaze on the ground.

"Yes." Dad's bruised knuckles shifted when his fingers curled into a fist. "There have been issues I haven't been properly...processing for a while now." He grimaced. "My mind has...it..."

"What?" Mom murmured, tensing up more.

Mitsuko's stomach twisted, a bad taste in her mouth, looking at her dad coldly. "Dad tried to kill himself."

"W-what?!" Mom's eyes widened in alarm, crushing Gakushuu's face against her shoulder.

Gakushuu grimaced and tried to ease out of the hold. "Mom—"

Mom shushed him and pressed his head against her shoulder so he couldn't move away, while she stared at her husband in horror. "Why would...h-how could...?"

Dad lowered his gaze. "I haven't been thinking clearly of how my actions have affected you all...emotionally." He lifted his hand and stared at the bruises on his knuckles. "The three of you..." He looked back at the three of them. "You mean _everything_ to me, and that attachment was terrifying."

Mitsuko felt a pit form in her stomach as she stared at her dad, moving closer to her mom's side when she wrapped an arm around her.

"I..." Dad looked like he was struggling to say it. "I love you all so much."

Mitsuko looked taken aback by the actual admittance, and looked over at her mom and brother who looked just as taken off guard as her.

Dad apprehensively took a step closer, making mom hold them tighter. "I know I need to be a better father and husband. That I need to... I need to allow you all to make your own choices." He smiled hesitantly. "I want you all to be happy."

Mitsuko rested her head on her mom's arm while the three of them stared at dad in complete silence for what felt like a lifetime.

Then mom took a deep breath and slipped her hands away from them, wiping her eyes as she slowly walked over to their dad.

Dad shifted on the spot, lowering his hands to his side as she stopped in front of him.

Mom took a deep breath. "You want us to be happy?"

"...Yes." He smiled feebly. "More than any—"

The hard slap from mom's hand reverberated in the hallway and sent their dad stumbling into the front door.

Both Mitsuko and Gakushuu jerked back in surprise.

Dad cradled his left red cheek and looked up at his wife in shock. "M-Mayumi—?"

_Wow._

Mitsuko stared at her mom in disbelief while her brother gawked.

"Well, that made me happy." Mom looked down at him coldly.

Dad took a deep breath and nodded, keeping his gaze low as he straightened up. "...I'm sorry," he said quietly, removing his hand from his cheek where an ugly red patch was forming. "I'm sorry."

Mom looked away from him and towards Mitsuko and Gakushuu who watching apprehensively. "... _You're sorry_?" She looked like she'd cry, staring down at him. "I...I gave up everything for you. I sacrificed my dreams, and you...you're just sorry?" Dad couldn't meet her gaze, staying silent. "And now suddenly you want to be better? _Now,_ you want to be a good father?!" She gestured him hopelessly. "You're just..."

Dad grimaced, looking down. "I know..."

Mom wiped her eyes and was trying to hold back tears. "I can't...I just...I don't know what to do." She wrapped her arms around herself. "You drugged our daughter, you hit our son and... and you tried to kill yourself..." Her voice broke towards the end. "Should I send you away like you did to me? Is that what I-I should do?"

Dad remained silent, staring at his shoes. "I can leave and go to my office if that's—"

"And, what? I find you two days later hanging yourself?" Mom said harshly, making them all flinch. "Do you think I want that on my conscience?"

"...I wouldn't..." Dad shifted uncomfortably. "You don't need to worry about—"

"Of course, I do! You're _my husband_ and father of my children." Mom shook her head in disbelief. "Do you think I'd be here if you just 'didn't worry about me'?" She shakily ran a hand through her hair. "You think I don't know..." Mom wiped her eyes and let out a shaky breath, trying to compose herself. "You can sleep in the garage where none of us has to see you until we're ready."

There was a long silence as their dad straightened up and stared at mom hesitantly.

She met his look with a hard glare.

"...Very well." Dad looked at his children and then his wife again. "If that's what you want..."

Mitsuko watched warily as their dad picked up his suitcase and hesitantly made his way out of the and down the steps.

The three of them stayed silent for a while as the minutes ticked by.

Mitsuko exchanged an unsure look with her brother. "So...?" she asked after a second. "What should we do?"

Mom sighed, turning around to face them. "Well...we could watch a movie?"

* * *

So they watched a movie.

Mom let Gakushuu pick so it ended up being some dumb action movie with a bunch of robots.

Mitsuko took a large spoonful of ice-cream. "This movie's stupid."

"It's not stupid," he replied almost defensively while their mom sat in-between the both of them with her arms around them both. "It's very complex."

"Like what, robots blowing shit up?" Mitsuko remarked dryly.

"Don't swear, sweetie," Mom chided and then smiled at Gakushuu. "Do you want some more ice-cream?" She practically shoved the tub of ice-cream in his face. "Or cookies? Do you want more?"

He grimaced at the coddling. "...No."

"Well, okay then." Mom kissed his forehead and pushed his head onto her shoulder like he was a toddler. "My strong little man gets whatever he wants today after what he had to go through."

Gakushuu's cheeks turned pink in humiliation while Mitsuko thought it was hilarious.

"Aw! Is Gaku-nii a brave widdle soldier?" she teased, causing him to glare from where his head was trapped in their mother's hold.

"Shut up..." he grumbled while his mom smiled and patted him on the head.

Mitsuko grinned and took a photo on her phone while he wasn't looking.

She curled her legs up on the couch and leaned against her mom's side as she adjusted her arm around her.

As the movie stretched on, she supposed it wasn't that bad, even if the plot was dumb and the special effects weren't that great.

Mom gently rubbed circles in her scalp like she used to when they were little.

Mitsuko closed her eyes and let out a deep breath which felt like she'd been holding in all day when the tension finally left her body. 

* * *

**A/N wow this was an emotional rollercoaster. Trying to tackle it my diving into these kids heads is interesting since the amount of mental abuse has very much screwed with what they consider normal and also how they emotionally deal with their dad's behaviour, and as I've always said, a dash of dark humour helps keep the sanity, which honestly is true with dealing with past abuse because if you don't laugh you will cry.**


	49. Trying to make up for lost time.

Mitsuko sighed when she felt her friends staring at her during lunch on the next day of school.

_Honestly, dad tries to kill himself ONE time and now suddenly everyone's acting like they're stepping on eggshells!_

She shook her head as she unpacked the lunch mom had made her—she raised an eyebrow when she saw a small card inside.

'For my beautiful, sweet, wonderful baby girl! – Love Mom' Then there was a heart drawn at the end with a smiley face.

"What the hell?" she muttered, taking a picture of it on her phone and sending it to Gakushuu.

**:Did you get one of these too?:**

A few seconds later he sent her a text. **:Yes...:** There was an irritated Emoi at the end.

Then a photo came through of the card that had been left in his lunch,

'For my precious, strong, and handsome little man! – Love Mom' There were hearts and a smiley face at the end.

Mitsuko burst out laughing, drawing some looks from her classmates.

 **:OMG!:** She texted back furiously, putting many laughing emojis.

 **:I'm going to burn it.:** He texted back.

**:LIAR!:**

**:...She's taking this parenting thing a little too far.:**

Mitsuko smiled. : **She's just trying to make up for lost time, Gaku-nii.:**

He didn't text back for a few seconds **. :...I'm still burning the card.:**

**:Don't you dare!:**

"So, I take it everything's going okay at home?" Rio asked, pushing her desk to hers.

Okajima pulled up a chair as well. "Yeah, we were all kind of getting worried you'd murdered your dad or somethi—ow!"

Sugaya nudged him hard. "Less of the murder talk, dude."

"Why?—OH!" Okajima gave a nervous laughed. "Sorry! Uh..."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Talking about killing isn't going to trigger bad memories of my dad trying to kill himself." She shrugged. "If that was the case, then I might as well hang up being an assassin..."

Sugaya grimaced, pushing his desk next to hers as he took out his lunch. "We just don't wanna make you uncomfortable or anything."

"Yeah, is your brother doing okay?" Takebayashi asked in concern.

"He's fine." Mitsuko shrugged, avoiding Rio's concerned gaze. "It is what it is." She looked forced a smile. "Besides, my mom ended up slapping the Principal so that was funny."

"Your mom slapped the Principal?!" Rio exclaimed.

"I-is she okay?" Sugaya looked alarmed.

"Yeah, she's fine." Mitsuko smirked. "He's sleeping in the garage."

Rio nearly choked from laughing. "Really?!" She grinned wickedly. "Now this I gotta see!"

"Wait, the Principal got kicked out?!" Maehara looked over from where he was sat with Isogai, Mimura, and Kataoka. " _Seriously_?"

Mitsuko's smirk grew as her classmates looked over. "Yes. He's sleeping on an airbed, and mom's making him eat downstairs as well."

Sugaya chuckled, covering his mouth. "Nice."

Karma grinned, leaning over his desk. "Not bad. Gotta admit, the prick had it coming."

There were a few nods of agreement.

"So how long is she gonna make him stay there?" Yoshida asked curiously.

"I don't know..." Her smile wavered. "I think she might actually divorce him but..." Mitsuko shrugged, poking at her food. "Who knows...?"

Some of the amusement faded a little.

"...Do you want them to get a divorce?" Nagisa asked quietly.

Mitsuko looked over, grimacing. "...I just want my mom to be happy." She sighed. "And my dad just brings out the worst in her." She stared at the small card with the sentimental message. "It just being the three of us would be...nice."

Her classmates stayed quiet, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Well..." Rio's smile was bright with only a little grimness at the ends. "Maybe he'll just have to live in the garage like a troll."

Okajima laughed. "Yeah, he might grow a really long beard like a hermit!"

Mitsuko burst out laughing when she imagined her dad with a bushy beard. "Oh, man, that would be awesome!"

"Hello, children!" Koro-sensei appeared in the window carrying a sack full of something.

"You're back early, sir," Isogai said, frowning. "I thought you said you were watching a Fire Torch competition?"

"Yeah, you've been bragging about it for weeks," Fuwa commented.

Koro-sensei gave a strained laugh, going over to his desk. "Well, I _may_ have mixed up the events and gotten the wrong ticket..."

"Why didn't you just buy another one?" Mitsuko asked.

Tears streamed down his face. "Because I'm broke..."

"AGAIN!?" His students yelled.

"You got paid less than two weeks ago!" Mitsuko yelled.

"Exactly! The month is only halfway done!" Koro-sensei argued, opening his sack to reveal some harvested fruits. "Luckily I managed to raid these treasures before they got tossed in a landfill."

"Is that fruit rotting!?" Nagisa exclaimed.

"No!" Koro-sensei blushed, holding the mushy looking pear close. "It's still good!"

"What do you even spend your money on?" Mitsuko questioned. "Seriously, it's like you're broke every month!"

Koro-sensei looked embarrassed, turning away in shame. "Children, some things are better off not known!"

"Uh..."

Mitsuko exchanged some wary looks with her classmates.

"Luckily this fruit should last me for another day or to until I need to go hunting for free samples!" Koro-sensei brightened up, taking out a flyer. "They're handing out free sushi on Saturday for the first 100 customers!"

Isogai looked excited. "Wow, really!?"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Seriously how many free samples have you actually...?" She paused as an idea started to form.

_Wait..._

* * *

Mitsuko frowned, chewing on the pancakes mom had made them for breakfast. "Are you still on good terms with Mr Ogasawara's daughter?" she asked her brother during breakfast on Saturday.

"Of course." Gakushuu raised an eyebrow at her while their mom slipped some more pancakes onto his plate. "Why?"

"I was thinking of organising something to help with my university applications," she half-lied. "I mean, middle-school is nearly over."

He nodded, seeming to agree. "Yes, that is true," he said, cutting up his pancakes. "Extracurriculars are important but we'll need more special achievements to really stand out from the crowd!"

"Please don't overwork yourselves." Mom smiled at them fondly, looking over her shoulder from where she was at the sink. "University is still a few more years away—oh..." Her eyes narrowed at the archway.

Mitsuko looked behind her when the kitchen went silent.

Dad awkwardly stood in the archway, fully dressed and shaved, while holding an empty bowl and mug. The bruise on his face was a faint purple. "...I just came to put the dishes away."

Mom's mouth thinned, crossing her arms. "Just put them in the dishwasher."

"Of course," dad replied, walking over to the counter as Mitsuko and Gakushuu watched him curiously while they chewed on their pancakes.

"You don't need to come up with them," Mom said coldly, pretending to clean something on the counter. "I'll just come down collect them."

_Oh, wow..._

Mitsuko shared at a look with her brother.

"Very well..." Dad put the dishes in the machine and then closed it. "I was hoping we could talk, perhaps..." The smile on his face was strained. "If you feel you're ready of course."

Mom's eyes narrowed at him. "...I suppose there are some things we need to talk about." She sighed, tossing the cloth to the side. "I'll meet you downstairs before lunch."

Dad nodded, looking over at his children. "Any plans for this Saturday?"

Mitsuko and Gakushuu just stared at him for a moment, leaving an overbearing silence for a while until Gakushuu seemed to take pity and actually answered him.

"Yes..." he told their dad, shrugging. "Ren is accompanying me to debate practice." He poked at his pancakes. "After which we will help Araki buy a tie and suit for his cousin's wedding."

"Wow, someone's actually marrying her?" Mitsuko questioned.

"It's a shock to all of us," Gakushuu commented dryly.

"Do you need a lift to the city?" Mom asked.

"No," Gakushuu replied. "I'm meeting Ren at the station in an hour." He looked at his sister. "You're welcome to join."

"Uh, yeah, I'll pass." Mitsuko smiled in amusement. "Watching you guys help Araki pick out a suit isn't the most fun Saturday activity."

Mom smiled at them. "Well, I hope you enjoy yourself." Then she scowled when she glanced at their dad who was still there. "Don't you have work to do?"

Mitsuko nearly choked on her pancakes when she tried not to laugh.

"Oh, yes." Dad replied, smiling pleasantly. "I'll just grab my laptop and..."

Mom pursed her lips, watching him coldly as he started to leave the kitchen.

* * *

"So this is your plan?" Ritsu said from the laptop as Mitsuko finished explaining. "It seems interesting." She smiled, tapping her chin. "And there is a 45% chance of success!" Then she frowned. "But we'll need to act fast before his next paycheck comes in!"

Mitsuko nodded. "I think I can make the arrangements fast with the Government's help, and—"

She and Ritsu both jumped in surprise when they heard a screeching of tires from outside.

"What the hell?" Mitsuko rushed to the window.

Ritsu pressed her face against the laptop screen. "What is it?!"

Out of the window, she saw her mom's car drive down the street at a speed which was definitely not legal.

Mitsuko felt a spark of worry and hurried out of her room while Ritsu yelled after her.

"Damn it!" She rushed downstairs towards the garage. "What did he do?"

When she made it to the garage her dad was stood by his car holding a file under his arm while he was trying to sort through his car key.

"What's happening?" She narrowed her eyes. "Where's mom?"

Dad looked over and grimaced. "Ah, yes..." He unlocked the car with the button in his key. "I don't have time to discuss—"

Mitsuko slammed her foot on the car door to stop him from getting in. "What happened?"

His brow furrowed, sighing. "Mitsuko, I don't have time to explain. I need to find your mother before she does something reckless."

Her eyes widened in concern, growing more worried. "Then I'm coming with you."

Dad looked irritated. "Mitsuko—"

"You're wasting time." She climbed over the hood of the car—making her dad glare—and quickly opened the passenger seat. "Come on!"

He grimaced and got into the car, tossing the file on her lap as she fastened her seatbelt. "I showed her that," he said as he started the car. "She was...understandably angry."

Mitsuko frowned and opened the file while her dad pulled out of their driveway. "What did....?" She cringed when she saw a photo of Koro-sensei casually wandering around her dad's office while eating a cake pop. "Why the fuck did you show her this?!"

"Language," her dad chided lightly, frowning. "She was asking a lot of questions and demanded I be truthful..." His frown deepened. "It wasn't ideal but secrets can be very damaging to a marriage." He grimaced. "And I promised her I would be a better husband."

"Um, yeah, how about starting with a freaking fondue night or something!?" Mitsuko objected. "And maybe leave the giant state secret that could destroy the planet for the backburner!?" She looked through the photos and nearly facepalmed. "Shit, how inconspicuous is he?"

"He can be quite careless sometimes, though I do have a suspicion some of it is deliberate," dad replied irritably. "I've had to wipe several video footage from the school database, but I did keep some footage for some leverage on the government—he does tend to snoop around my office when I'm absent."

Mitsuko sighed when she saw a photo of Koro-sensei panicking at nearly dropping an award—the next photo saw clear relief on his face when the award remained unbroken when he caught it from hitting the floor.

"...I swear to God..." Mitsuko buried her face in her hand. "So, wait, is that where we're going?" She looked over at her dad. "Is she going to the Old Campus!?"

"Yes, it seems the most obvious line of thinking," he replied. "I did try to explain to her that you weren't in any real danger from him but she wasn't very willing to listen to that part."

"Yeah, no shit!" Mitsuko swore, earning a chiding look which she ignored. "Well, this is just great! Goodbye, any assassination plans. There's no way mom's gonna be okay with this!" She glared at him. "You're meant to be smart, how could you be so stupid!?"

Dad's eyes narrowed coldly. "Watch your tone."

"Oh, please, you know I'm right!" Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "This is a disaster—mom is going to go crazy and Koro-sensei..." She groaned. "Crap, he is just gonna make things worse! Nice work, dad!"

He glared at her. "Mitsuko, you aren't helping, and unless you—"

"Lamppost!" Mitsuko pointed ahead.

They crashed into a lamppost, making them both jerk forward.

Dad looked surprised, staring at the damaged front. "Oh..."

"Nice work!" Mitsuko snapped. "Like, seriously, how bad at driving are you!?"

_It looked like having a driver for so many years really had messed with his driving._

His mouth pulled into a grimace. "Back seat driving is very dangerous, Mitsuko, you shouldn't have distracted me." He frowned ad tried to reverse the car but it made a wheezing noise. "Hm..."

Mitsuko groaned and pressed her head against the window. " _Great_..."

Dad sighed and took out his phone. "I'll have to order a taxi then." Undoing his seatbelt as he held the phone to his ear. "Then call Oshin to take the car for repairs."

"And how long is that gonna take?" Mitsuko looked worried, taking out her phone. "Ritsu, are you able to track my mom's phone?!"

Ritsu appeared on the screen. "I'm not hacked in so it would take a while—oh! But I'm already hacked into her car GPS!"

Mitsuko grimace. "Damn. Thanks, Ritsu."

Dad looked over with a frown, covering the phone mic with his hand. "Why is she already hacked into your mother's car GPS?"

Mitsuko shushed him. "Ritsu, can you find her?"

"Yes." Ritsu hurriedly brought up a map of where her mom's car is. "She's at the school."

"Thank you! You're a lifesaver," Mitsuko replied gratefully.

"It's fine." Ritsu looked worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Uh, I'll tell you after," she replied, cringing. "It's gonna be a long story."

Ritsu nodded, looking to the side when she heard the Principal ordering a taxi. "Do you need the rest of the class to help?"

"No, this is kind of family drama so I'm gonna have to leave them out of this," Mitsuko replied, sighing. "But I'll contact you guys if it all gets too much, okay?"

Ritsu nodded. "Okay." She smiled warmly. "Well, good luck!"

Mitsuko forced a smile while the Ai disappeared from the screen in a ray of sparkles.

Dad lowered the phone from his ear. "They'll be here in ten minutes."

"Great..." She felt her dread grow. "Why didn't you have me be there to help tell her at least?"

"...It didn't cross my mind," he replied, frowning as he stared at his phone.

Mitsuko scoffed. "Oh, right, of course!" She buried her face in her hands. "This is a shit show."

"Mitsuko, while the situation may be distressing, there is no need to use such language while I'm present," her dad said curtly, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Remember your manners."

Her eyes twitched in irritation. "Are you seriously lecturing me on manners right now?" She felt a rise of spite. "Well if it's that much of an issue, why not just abandon me in the street, or hey, how about locking me in the closet again for six hours?" She said sarcastically while her dad remained silent. "Because that's great parenting, right?"

Dad remained quiet for a long while, keeping his gaze ahead where the lamppost was denting the front of the car badly. "...Is it...something you would like to...discuss?"

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at him coldly. "No."

"...Well, clearly it is something you wish to discuss since you brought it up," he commented lightly.

She gritted her teeth and folded her arms, looking out of the window. "Well, what do you think?"

Her dad sighed. "I understand why you are angry with me." He glanced at her briefly, earning another glare. "Obviously I didn't take into account the..." He seemed to struggle to find the right word. "Mental damage my methods have caused over the years." There was another pause. "And for that, I apologise."

Mitsuko stomach twisted, glaring at the ground. "Wow...thanks..."

Dad frowned faintly, tapping his finger on the steering wheel. "Obviously an apology isn't enough...your mother made that very clear." He grimaced when he touched his bruised cheek. "Words are only as valid as their actions." He patted her on the head. "Therefore I propose we take part in a bonding activity."

Mitsuko stared at him blankly.

He smiled. "I've done some research and apparently it's common for fathers to take their daughters to dinners and movies."

She continued to stare at him blankly.

"I've already found a few restaurants that can fit around my schedule," he continued to speak, completely undeterred by her lack of enthusiasm. "There is also a list of movies premiering that may be of interest—one is a documentary on human evolution and the history of the Stag Beetles."

Mitsuko pressed her forehead against the window and groaned in despair. "Oh, God..."

He'd already taken out his phone again and started typing something. "I'll text you the list so you can choose which one you prefer."

_Where the fuck was that taxi?!_

"Dad, just...no." Mitsuko sighed.

Dad stared at her briefly before putting his phone away. "Well, perhaps it's something to discuss later."

She sighed when the two of them ended up sitting in silence until the taxi finally came five minutes later.

Mitsuko got out the car along with her dad when the taxi driver pulled up behind the car.

"Wow, that's some damage," the driver said when he looked out of his window. "Let me guess, backseat driver?" He chuckled when he saw Mitsuko's scowl. "Yeah, my niece did the same thing to my brother's car."

Mitsuko grumbled and got into the backseat with her dad as he told the driver the address, the file safely tucked under her arm.

The rest of the drive to the mountain was silent, despite the driver's best efforts to engage in conversation with them.

Mitsuko's feet wouldn't stop twitching from nerves as she imagined her mom going completely crazy on Koro-sensei. Her dad kept glancing at her curiously but otherwise knew better than to say anything else.

As soon as the taxi came to a stop at the back pathway to the mountain, Mitsuko hopped out and started to make her way up while her dad paid the man.

Mitsuko marched up the mountain as quickly as she could while her dad seemed to easily catch up with her without breaking a sweat.

"I'm sure everything is fine," dad said evenly. "You're mother must have calmed down by now."

"And if she hasn't?" she replied tightly.

"Well..." Dad frowned slightly. "I suppose it would be inconvenient having to involve the government."

Mitsuko wanted to bash her head against a tree. "I can't believe you told her."

He raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer I continue to lie to her?"

She scowled, clenching her teeth tight. "...No." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm just saying you could have eased her in a little instead of dumping all of it at once."

"I didn't tell her all the details," he replied lightly. "I thought it was best I didn't mention the poisoning on the island incident or the recent Reaper debacle until a more appropriate time."

"Well, that's something at least." Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. "I swear she better not try to set the Campus on fire like Nagisa's mom."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "I doubt she'd go that far."

"Hey, I'm thinking worst-case scenario here!" Mitsuko argued.

Then finally, they reached the top where the Old Campus was.

They both exchanged a glance. "Well, there's no yelling," she commented. "And she hasn't smashed anything..."

"Exactly, I'm sure she's calmed down by now," dad said, as they walked to the building. "...Or she's left...which could be a problem."

"You think?" Mitsuko sighed, as they walked down the corridor. "I just hope she isn't crying or..."

They both froze when they heard laughing coming from further down the hall.

"...She used to wet the bed until she was four, so I had to put her in nappies all the time!" Mom's bright voice rang from down the hall.

Mitsuko went bright red. "What the hell?"

Dad looked mildly curious, following the sound until they both reached the teacher's lounge...where mom was sat opposite Koro-sensei at his desk while they both sipped tea.

"—Gakushuu wasn't much better," Mom said brightly. "When he was a toddler whenever he got overexcited he used to poo his pants."

"M-mom!" Mitsuko stammered from the archway while her dad looked intrigued.

Mom looked over her shoulder. "Oh, Mitsuko..." Then her expression darkened when she looked at the Principal. "Gakuhou..."

"Hello!" Koro-sensei waved at them cheerfully. "We were just having a chat—which has been long overdue of course." He nodded respectfully at her mom. "It's wondering meeting a fellow founder of the school."

Mom smiled sheepishly, turning back to him. "I wouldn't exactly call myself a founder." She sipped her tea. "I just made sure the accounts were kept in order."

Mitsuko walked into the room, standing by the desk. "So...you're not angry about the whole—"

"Oh, no I'm still furious," mom said brightly, waving her hand dismissively. "But Koro-sensei has convinced me murdering your father would do more harm than good."

The Principal was sweating a little. "Heh. Oh, that's wonderful to hear."

"So, Koro-sensei told you everything?" Mitsuko asked warily.

Mom sighed, turning her seat towards them both. "Yes." She gave the octopus a smile. "And I'll admit...I maybe have been a little hysterical at first but...we talked for a while."

"And I made tea," Koro-sensei added, letting out a content sigh after drinking his. "Which really does wonders for the nerves."

"It is very good tea," Mom commented, placing her cup down on the desk. "Needless to say your father was right about Koro-sensei not causing you harm." She scrutinised the Principal coldly. "However, I can't say I'm happy about this whole assassination training the government has you doing." She stood up and walked over to Mitsuko. "It's dangerous."

Mitsuko sighed. "Mom, the world could end by March, we're all in danger!" she argued. "And besides, doing nothing won't help." She crossed her arms stubbornly. "You might not like it, but that's not going to stop me from doing my job and killing him."

Mom grimaced. "I don't think you really understand what that means sweetie." She placed her hands on her shoulder. "...I won't force you to leave the class—I know how much it means to you, and I know what will happen if I try to keep you away from them." She grimaced and pulled her into a hug. "But I will be talking to this Mr Karasuma, and if I think for a second this assassination training they have is harmful, I am banning you from those activities—that applies to these assassination plots your classmates keep trying to pull."

Mitsuko scowled but knew better than to try to argue about this now of all times. "Yes, mom..."

Mom cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "Good." Then her face darkened when she looked over at dad. "We need to talk."

Dad visibly tensed but otherwise looked calm. "Of course." Then he smiled politely at Koro-sensei. "I apologise for this and disturbing you on your day off, but if you would just give us a moment while we talk outside."

Koro-sensei nodded sipping his tea. "I completely understand." He turned to her mother. "It was a joy hosting such beautiful and charming female company."

Mom smiled with a blush while dad's eye twitched slightly.

Mitsuko watched apprehensively as her parents left the room, their footsteps fading as they walked further down the corridor.

"What did you say to her to get her to calm down?" she asked, frowning.

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Well, nothing special, I mainly just listened and waited for her to calm down while she yelled and hit me repeatedly." He rubbed his round head. "She threw a number of chairs at me in the classroom, but after that, she got tired, which is when I started to talk to her."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow when she imagined her mom repeatedly trying to punch Koro-sensei and it having no effect. "Right..." She placed the envelope on his desk. "That does seem like something she'd do. Sorry she made a mess."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I cleaned it up. She seems like a lovely woman," Koro-sensei said brightly. "Despite the demons, she's currently overcoming, I think she's quite strong."

"...You really think so?" Mitsuko asked hesitantly, looking out the window when she saw her parents heading to the thick of the trees.

"Yes, I do," Koro-sensei replied. "As I said, your mother is troubled, but it seems to me she's trying to make up for her past mistakes, much like the Principal."

Mitsuko grimaced, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall. "Don't start preaching about forgiveness, sir. I'm already in a bad mood."

Koro-sensei gave a small chuckled. "You know I am a strong believer in second chances." He gave her a warm look. "But I also understand that it's alright if you don't want to or aren't ready to forgive. There's nothing wrong with that." He stood up and placed a tentacle on her shoulder. "Families are difficult, and there are some actions and trauma that can't be fixed easily. The past is something we have to learn from, which is what your parents are trying to do so they can be better parents for you and your brother."

She grimaced, looking out of the window again. "Doesn't mean I have to trust them..." She moved off the wall and made her way to the door. "And I'm not letting him manipulate her again."

Koro-sensei remained silent and didn't move to stop her as she went to go find her parents to spy on their argument.

She sighed, walking outside and towards the bit of the woods her parents had disappeared into, it wasn't hard to find them, she could hear them even from some distance away, despite the fact they seemed to be trying to not shout at each other.

"—No, no, please, _continue_ , just continue to tell me how none of this is as bad as it is!" Mom snapped.

Mitsuko pushed away some branches and looked around for a good tree to perch on so she could hear.

"...I was trying to protect you," Dad argued. "You were in a delicate state."

"I'm a grown woman, stop treating me like a child!"

Mitsuko found a good tree and quietly climbed up it, as her parents kept arguing.

"I did not treat you as a child," Dad argued, keeping his voice calm. "I treated you cautiously because I didn't have another choice—you were a danger to yourself and the children."

"Oh _, I_ was a danger to them!?" Mom exclaimed incredulously. "I wasn't the one who treated them like fucking dogs for ten years—oh, but wait, no that's fine because it was all for their education, right?" When Mitsuko reached near the top of the tree she saw her mom and dad in the clearing below. "Do you have any idea how much of a hypocrite you are?!"

Dad's eyes narrowed briefly, but then he looked away and took a deep breath. "I did what I thought was best. As I've always done..." He grimaced. "In hindsight...I understand that there are things I could have handled... _better_."

Mom scoffed. " _Really_? Oh, how wonderful, I'm so happy you finally came to that ground-breaking realisation after nearly _ten years_!" She balled her hands into fists and poked his chest hard. "Do you have any idea, of how much I have had to put up with your bullshit all these years?"

Dad started to let some of his temper show. "Yes, I think I have some inkling, considering how many of your messes I've had to clean up."

"Oh, here we go." Mom shook her head and turned away.

"I didn't try to stop you when you would go out with your friends," he spoke sharply. "No matter how late, I made sure you got home safe, and I remembered my marriage vows—"

"Don't you dare!" She snapped, pointing. "Don't you fucking dare bring up marriage vows, because that is a whole shitstorm—"

"You're not denying it—"

"Of course I'm not!" She yelled at him, making Mitsuko flinch from her hiding spot. "And I hated myself for it because I wanted them to be you!" Mom shoved him, causing him to step back. "I wanted you to care! I wanted you to—I wanted my husband back!" Her voice broke. "I wanted the man I married, I wanted us to be happy and..."

"...Mayumi." He tried to reach out to hold her but she pushed him away.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Mom was starting to cry now, making Mitsuko's stomach twist. "Stop pretending—"

"I'm not pretending," he insisted, stepping close, trying to hold her. "I'm not trying to trick you, I'm just trying to be a better husband. A husband you deserve."

Tears were streaming down her face. "The man I deserved disappeared a long time ago."

"Not all of him." His voice was quiet, making it hard to hear. "I love you, I always have." He hesitantly reached out and wrapped an arm around her, gently pulling her close as she cried. "I love you so much that the thought of losing you was terrifying."

"Stop saying that," she whispered, closing her eyes tight. "Please just stop saying—"

"But it's true."He smiled tenderly and cupped his wife's face in his hands, resting his forehead against hers. "I've always loved you."

He gave her a long deep kiss, holding her close.

Mom's hand gently moved to his cheek when the kiss ended, keeping her eyes closed. "I love you too," her voice was soft and broken. "But..." She let out a shallow breath, tracing her thumb over the bruise on his cheek. "But people who love each other don't hurt each other like this." She looked down, resting her hands on her chest like she couldn't quite bring herself to push him away. "And that's all we've seemed to do over the years, and that's not fair for us or the children."

Mitsuko's eyes widened in surprise, leaning in closer.

He grew very still, resting his hands on her mom's shoulders. "We can try again." There was something in his voice which she hadn't heard before. "I promise this time will be different."

"No," Mom said, easing out of his arms as she pulled away finally. "I can't keep doing this." She turned away from him. "You used to say that we were a team, but we haven't been that in a long time." She looked over her shoulder at him sadly. "I don't want to be with you anymore, Gakuhou."

He stared at her for a long time. "...Mayumi, I—"

"Don't fight me on this," her voice grew cold. "I don't care if the world is ending. I don't want to be with you anymore...I'm not even sure I want the kids around you."

Dad looked away for a moment, the two of them staying completely silent for a long while. "...I can't force you to stay with me," he said quietly. "But I will ask that you let me try to be a better father." He took a step towards her. "I want to be in their lives, and they deserve better, I know that, so let me try to make up for what I've done. I won't fight you on this so long as you let me have that."

Mitsuko felt something stir in her stomach, frowning at her dad.

_...Did he really mean that?_

Mom seemed to have similar doubts, staring at him warily for a long time. "...I still want the paperwork in place," she spoke, crossing her arms as she turned back to him. "If the world doesn't end then I want everything to be sorted quickly so it doesn't affect the children's school performance."

Dad nodded slowly. "I agree it shouldn't disturb their education."

Mom's lips thinned, grimacing. "You can stay in the spare room until the end of March in case...well in case it really is the end...we should at least die as a family." She looked sick, wiping her eyes. "But if you, if you hurt them or try to make things go back to how things used to be then you're out—no second chances." Her eyes narrowed. "I won't let you near them if you mess this up again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," dad replied grimly.

Mom nodded, wiping away the rest of her tears with her jumper sleeve. "We need to head back, we've already disturbed enough of Koro-sensei's time dragging him into personal matters."

"Yes, we have." Dad replied cordially, handing her his handkerchief.

Mom wiped her eyes with the silk cloth and sniffled, walking alongside him and out of the clearing.

Mitsuko stayed where she was hidden, feeling something numb and cold start to grow in her stomach as she curled up on the tree branch. 


	50. Was that awkward?

"So you're sure this isn't too much?" Sugaya questioned as they slipped the anti-sensei powder in the beacon of paint.

Mitsuko hummed, scrutinising the mixture. "No, this amount should be perfect." She rubbed her chin, the two of them hovering around their experiment in the garage. "This is just a sample, so once we work out the accurate measurements of the pipes we'll need to make the right adjustments after."

Sugaya nodded, sitting down on a yard chair. "So what time does your family usually have dinner?" He checked the time on his phone after seeing the dark sky from the small garage window.

"It should be seven," she replied, stirring the paint with a thin metal rod. "But it's dad cooking so..."

"You're dad's cooking!?" Sugaya gawked at her.

Mitsuko shrugged, sitting down in the lawn chair opposite him. "Yeah, it's kind of weird but he practically begged mom to let him once he found out you were sleeping over."

Sugaya started to sweat. "Uh, he's not going to poison me is he?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I mean he might but, that's just a risk we're all willing to take."

Sugaya's face flushed. "I'm being serious!"

"So was I."

"Mitsuko!"

A grin spread across her face, placing the beacon back on the table. "It'll be fine. Besides, he'd never be rude enough to poison a guest. Mom would kill him."

Sugaya seemed to calm down a little but was still frowning. "I'm surprised your mom is even letting him eat dinner with you...didn't you say—"

Her grin shrunk into a faint scowl. "They're still getting a divorce." Her tone was a little defensive. "At least, if we survive passed March that is." Something like dread threatened to build in her chest but she pushed it down. "She's just letting him try to make up for lost time—I guess it's like when they give prisoners their last meal."

He hummed, rubbing his chin. "Well, that's nice of her."

Mitsuko shrugged, glancing over at her dad's expensive car imagining it not being there in a few months. "Yeah, well...we gave her a second chance so..."

"...You're doing okay with it, right?" Sugaya asked, staring at her with blatant concern. "The whole, divorce thing..."

"Yes," she replied a little too quickly, earning a questioning look. "...Well, okay enough. I don't know." She shrugged again, sighing. "It's just weird...it's like imagine having someone completely control your life and they're always in the back of your head influencing your choices and...and suddenly you find out that's all going to change..."

He started to look confused. "But that's a good thing...isn't it?"

"Of course it is," Mitsuko replied, resting her arms on the table. "I'm just not sure what's gonna happen after when it's just three of us—is my dad even going to stay in the picture? Or is he just going to leave and never come back?" Her stomach twisted. "I should be happy about that, shouldn't I?"

"...I mean, he's still your dad, so..." Sugaya shrugged, looking out of his depth. "It's okay that you love him. That's normal." His brow furrowed. "Family's complicated, dude, just try not to overthink it too much."

She heaved a sigh. "I always overthink stuff..." She rested her head in her arms on the table. "I'm just worried about how different things are going to be once he moves out..."

There was a heavy silence for a while, with Sugaya shifted uneasily in his chair, until he settled on awkwardly patting her on the back.

* * *

After living with the Principal for so many years, there was maybe only a handful of things that truly terrified her, with a majority of such being her dad himself.

However, she was only now realising that there was something even more horrifying than seeing her dad angry.

"Dinner's ready!"

Sitting at the dining table and seeing her dad cheerfully walk in wearing mom's apron while carrying food was fucking terrifying and would haunt her dreams for months, and perhaps, years to come.

Sugaya looked completely horrified and she wouldn't fault him for ducking out of this early and never returning.

Dad placed the Macchli Charminar on the already full table while Mom and Gakushuu watched him warily.

"I hope you're all hungry," dad said brightly, before looking at Sugaya. "My apologies if not everything is to your liking Sugaya-kun, but Mitsuko wasn't very forthcoming with your dietary tastes."

"Oh, no, it's fine!" Sugaya replied anxiously, shaking a little as he plastered on a fake smile. "I'm not picky at all and this all looks very good."

"The Tuna Carpaccio is too much, though," Gakushuu remarked, raising an eyebrow. "You could have added more pallet cleansers to balance out the dishes."

Dad's smile twitched when he looked over at his son. "An acute observation, but as I said, this is a selection to cater to our guest—We wouldn't be good hosts if we gorged everything like uncultured—"

"Gakuhou..." Mom interjected, giving him a look.

Gakushuu smirked while dad chuckled hollowly. "I'm only teasing, de—Mayumi," he seemed to correct himself, his smile tightening. "Regardless, I'm sure there are enough options to keep everyone satisfied."

Sugaya raised his hands defensively. "U-uh, yeah, like I said it all looks great!" He quickly picked up his fork. "Um, thank you, sir!"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, tapping her plate as she wondered when they'd be allowed to eat. Breakfasts were always clear, mom gave them food and they ate it, but dinners with all of them together happened once maybe every few months, and with them, their father always signalled or said when it was time to eat.

She looked at her dad who had taken off his apron and folded it on the cabinet dresser near the table, before taking his seat at the opposite end of the table.

Mitsuko and Gakushuu shared an impatient look as they waited for the Principal to start eating, but their dad was looking at their mom for some reason while mom seemed to be paying attention at a vase of fresh flowers on the dresser.

Sugaya was staring at them all with more confusion as an uncomfortable silence settled.

Then dad cleared his throat, gaining mom's attention.

Mom looked over with a frown until she seemed to realise. "Oh." She picked up her fork and then looked at her children. "Yes, everyone dig in."

Mitsuko frowned, picking up her fork as Sugaya cautiously started dishing food onto his plate.

_Oh, okay, so mom was going to be making the major decisions now...it made sense but..._

"OhmyGod!" Sugaya's eyes sparkled when he tasted a sample of the Macchli Charminar. "This is amazing!" He was crying tears of joy while his mouth was full of food. "So good!"

Dad's smile was smug, folding his napkin on his lap. "Why thank you, Sugaya-kun."

Sugaya started to devour his food like it was something he'd never tasted before and never would again.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and chewed his own food, clearly holding back his delight.

Mitsuko shook her head and started eating, scowling when the flavour exploded in her mouth. "...It is pretty good," she admitted begrudgingly, savouring the taste on her tongue.

Mom looked annoyed, narrowing her gaze at the Principal when he chuckled. "Yes, well your father has many talents." She angrily ate the food in front of her like it was a chore.

They spent the next ten minutes purely eating while dad continued to look smug about it.

"So, Mitsuko..." Dad decided to start a conversation. "How are things progressing with you and Nakamura?"

Mitsuko nearly choked on a salad leaf. "U-Uh!" She quickly swallowed. "What?"

Dad took a bite of some shrimp before dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "I understand you two are dating now."

"W-who told you that!?" Mitsuko blushed while Gakushuu's eyes narrowed.

"Your teacher mentioned it briefly," Mom said, frowning a little.

_God damn it, Koro-sensei!!_

  
Mitsuko scowled, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "Well, he shouldn't have, he needs to learn to keep his gossip to himself!"

Sugaya snorted into his glass of juice.

"You and Nakamura are dating?" Gakushuu said, frowning.

She sighed, poking at a tiny tomato. "Yes, we are—but it's not like she's my girlfriend or anything!" Her cheeks flushed pink. "We're just hanging out more, and that's it."

"So no physical affection then?" dad asked lightly, arching an eyebrow.

"DAD!!" Mitsuko wanted to die right then and there. "What the hell?!"

Sugaya was trying to hide his laughter in his napkin.

Mom grimaced, making Mitsuko tense a little. "I don't want you girls to rush into anything inappropriate," she said firmly. "Especially kissing, those things can be a downward spiral, and you're still just a child."

Correction, this is the moment where Mitsuko wanted to die.

"...I swear, just kill me now..." she whispered, burying her face in her hands.

"She better not try anything either," Gakushuu said coldly, making things worse.

"Will you all stop!?" Mitsuko exclaimed, glaring at her family. "Like, seriously, Sugaya _is right here_?"

Sugaya stiffened when they all glanced back at him like they were only just remembering. "Uh...it's fine." He gave a nervous laugh. "My parents talk about this stuff with me and my sister all the time."

"Yes, I hear it's quite a normal family topic of discussion." Dad smiled brightly, effectively making things weirder. "It's important these things are in the open, especially with ongoing sexual hormones—"

"Can someone pass the salt!?" Mitsuko snapped. " _Please_!"

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and passed her the salt.

Dad seemed happy about how the conversation had turned out. "What about you, Asano?" He looked at her brother. "Are there any girls—"

"No," Gakushuu said with finality, looking back at his sister. "I'm serious if Nakamura even tries to—"

"Shush!" Mitsuko threw her napkin at his face. "Stay out of my love life."

Sugaya grinned. "Oh, so it's a _love life_ now?" Then She kicked him hard under the table, making him jerk and drop his fork to clutch his leg. "OW!"

Dad frowned at her. "Mitsuko, don't injure guests while they're eating, it's impolite."

"My foot slipped," she replied flatly.

"Like hell it did!" Sugaya snapped back.

Mom sighed, shaking her head as she finished eating. "That's enough, now." She smiled at Sugaya. "After dinner do you need anything for your room, Sugaya?"

"What? Oh, no I'm all good, Mrs Asano," Sugaya replied politely. "Honestly, I'm happy just sleeping on the couch. I don't want to cause a hassle."

"Don't be silly." Mom smiled pleasantly. "What kind of hosts would we be if we let you sleep on a couch—?besides that's where Gakuhou will be sleeping."

Sugaya had a weird choking fit and then looked over at the Principal in alarm. "I-I don't want to be rude—"

"Oh, no!" Dad chuckled lightly, waving his hand dismissively. "I don't sleep much anyway."

Sugaya looked very confused by that and looked at Mitsuko and the rest of her family, but they remained unbothered since it wasn't exactly fresh news.

"What are you two working on downstairs, anyway?" Gakushuu changed the subject.

"Science project," Mitsuko lied easily. "It's due soon so we're trying to get as much done as possible."

Mom scrutinised her. "Nothing dangerous, I hope?"

"Of course not," Mitsuko replied, shrugging. "My teacher would let me if it was."

Mom hummed shrewdly. "Alright then." She sighed. "I still want to hear more about it though."

"Yes, I know," she replied, growing exasperated.

Her brother was staring at them both suspiciously, Mitsuko just smiled back at him sweetly while Sugaya looked amused.

* * *

"Okay, guys, listen up!" Mitsuko stood in front of her classmates during lunch. "We have around twenty minutes before Koro-sensei gets back from his Origami competition," she told them, causing them to all look over. "I have an assassination plan."

"Really?" Maehara looked surprised.

"Yes." Mitsuko swallowed, standing straighter. "As you all know Koro-sensei is broke again."

"Yeah, for like the 100th time," Sugino commented.

"The guy really needs to budget," Rio said.

"That's for sure." Mitsuko nodded. "And as usual he's scraping for freebies so he can survive until payday, which is how I came up with my plan." She smiled proudly. "There's a wholes food owner called Mr Ogasawara who's daughter Gakushuu and I used to tutor a year ago—after calling in a favour, he's agreed to pull a special free samples event this Saturday."

"Free samples? So what are we putting stuff in the food?" Mimura asked. "Because with the cake in—"

"I am fully aware of the cake incident," Mitsuko interjected. "This is a little different, so the event is purchased through free tickets, which I had Karasuma arrange nearly all but one be purchased by agents or whatever actors they can pull together, so no civilians are present."

"How do you know he's gonna attend though?" Okajima asked.

Ritsu chuckled from the back. "Well, I may have flooded his internet adds with the event after he signed up for that all you can eat competition." She winked. "It's classic cookie advertisement so it's not that suspicious, and after tracing the most recent ticket sales for the event, it's confirmed he has a ticket."

Mitsuko nodded. "And while he's eating his heart out, that's when we'll deploy, the following." She cleared her throat. "Sugaya, the diagram please."

"Okay." Sugaya took a sheet from under his desk and walked to the front. "So, remember when I mixed the anti-sensei pellets into some henna paint?"

Maehara shivered. "When Bitch-sensei went ape-shit crazy and tried to shoot us? Kind of hard to forget, dude."

Sugaya grinned, opening up the poster to show a sprinkler system. "Well, me and Mitsuko worked on it, and we think we developed a better paint mixture that could be used in a fire sprinkler system."

The class leaned in curiously to look at the diagram.

"So, what you're gonna set the sprinklers off?" Kimura asked.

Mitsuko smiled. "Yep! If we can trap him inside and turn the sprinklers on and the anti-sensei paint will weaken him—"

"And dissolve his face," Sugaya chipped in.

"—Long enough for Sniper squad will take the shot for his heart," Mitsuko finished.

Bother Hayami and Chiba shared slightly apprehensive looks, before they smiled and nodded.

"Okay, sounds good," Hayami said.

"Right!" Mitsuko's smile wavered. "Look, I'm not going to lie and say I'm completely confident in this..." She let out a deep breath. "But I want to try, and I think it might actually work if everyone comes together." She smiled at them. "So, if you'll allow me, follow my lead and let's give Koro-sensei a death he can be proud of!"

"Right!" Her classmates yelled back.

"One question." Isogai smiled sheepishly. "Is it possible to get some free samples from the event?"

Mitsuko's smile dropped. "I'm not running a charity here!"

Isogai blushed. "We can't let them all go to waste!"

Maehara shrugged. "Hey, he's dirt poor, at least save him some scraps."

Isogai looked more embarrassed. "Hey!"

She rolled her eyes. "How about I just make sure some samples are left to the side for you to take home later?"

The Ikeman's whole face perked up. "Thanks!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I appreciate it!"

Mitsuko sighed. "Whatever." She shrugged. "I'll just add on my university application that the event fed the poor."

Isogai didn't look impressed by that.

"Uh, isn't it a little too early for that?" Yoshida said. "I mean, exam results, I get but—"

She stared at him in disbelief. "Too _early_?" She scoffed. "Oh, please, I've been preparing for this since forever—it's never too early to prepare!" she said matter of factly. "These types of things really stand out for an application and special recommendations!"

Her classmates sighed in exasperation.

"Yeah, you and your brother and definitely twins," Takebayashi commented dryly.

Mitsuko grew flustered. "What is that meant to imply!? I can't help it if I'm good at preparation--I'm efficient!!"

"If you think this is bad you should have seen us when we were eleven—she once dragged me to a college open day during the weekend." Rio smirked, resting her chin in her palm.

"It was productive!" Mitsuko argued.

"We got kicked out because she kept correcting the tour guide," Rio commented. "But Mitsuko refused to leave so campus security had to carry her out."

The rest of Class E laughed while Mitsuko scowled.

"Well it's not my fault she was bad at her job," Mitsuko replied, as Sugaya rolled up the poster.

Rio shrugged. "Hey, I thought it was funny, and you know you're adorable when you get worked up."

Mitsuko froze and turned bright pink while her classmates laughed more. "R-Rio!"

"Aw, she's blushing!" Karma teased, grinning.

Mitsuko's whole face turned a deep shade of red, feeling her stomach twist when Rio smiled at her slyly like this was all a game.

_Maybe it was..._

She tensed when she felt something insecure niggle at the back of her head, but she pushed it away and glared at her classmates. 

"Shut up!" Mitsuko pursed her lip and took a deep breath. "And enough fooling around!" She put her foot down. "This plan needs to be executed by Saturday, so let's get a move on people!"

* * *

Something kept bugging her, even when she knew it wasn't a big deal...

"Like, what do I even get them, a blender?" Rio prattled on, holding her gloved hand as they walked down the busy streets.

_Holding hands like they really were a couple...which they kind of were...right?_ _Except Rio said it wasn't so..._

Mitsuko tried not to frown, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck as she and Rio walked through the busy streets. The whole city was lit up for the festive season, the bare tree branches decorated with white lights all along the street.

"So what do you think?" Rio asked as they stopped near a shop window which was showing all manner of shiny and expensive looking appliances. "I know they're married, but do you think household appliances is too boring...? I mean, it's not like they have kids yet so they'll want something a little more exciting."

"Huh?" Mitsuko said, making the other girl frown. "Sorry, uh, I wasn't really..."

Rio's frown deepened, turning to her properly. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah..." Mitsuko looked at a shiny red blender. "You should get them a blender. Lots of young couples go on those healthy diets in January; it's useful."

"Right." Rio stared at her for a second before looking at the blender. "Are you sure you're—"

"Why do you always keep flirting and then say we're not a couple?" The words burst out before she could stop them. "I mean..." There was no taking it back. "It's just..." Mitsuko blushed, looking down. "I know we're taking it slow, but...this is real right?" She winced. "This isn't just...you do actually...you want a relationship, right?"

"Of course I do..." Rio held her hand tighter. "...You think I'd play games with you?"

"...No." Mitsuko hid her chin deeper in her scarf, keeping her gaze low. "But, it's just, we don't..."

"Okay, I get what you mean." Rio sighed, slipped her hand from hers. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm giving you mixed signals or making you feel like I'm not serious—because I am." She curved her arm around Mitsuko's, bringing her closer. "It's just I don't want to mess this all up and being serious about stuff is just...awkward."

Mitsuko slowly lifted her gaze to look at her, feeling some relief when she saw the feeble smile on Rio's face.

She bit down on her lip, swallowing her courage before taking a step forward and kissing Rio on the cheek, surprising her.

"Was that awkward?" Mitsuko asked quietly, looking up at her hesitantly as she ignored some of the looks passers-by were shooting them.

Rio's eyes were wide and her cheeks were turning a deep shade of pink which didn't seem to be from the cold. "N-no."

She looked embarrassed, making Mitsuko smile faintly and feel a bolster of confidence.

"Okay..." Mitsuko said slowly, forcing herself to take a chance. "What about this then?" Before Rio could reply she kissed her softly on the lips like how she saw Bitch-sensei do with all the men she charmed. "Was that—?"

Rio grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into another deep kiss, making her melt.


	51. This was...nice

“Mitsuko?”

Mitsuko buried her face in her pillow as she stirred, snoring loudly.

A hand gently shook her shoulder. “Mitsuko?”

“Uh…” She groaned, stirring as she pulled the pillow closer to her body like a comforting.

Then the hand shook her harder. “Wake up! There’s something important you need to!”  
  


She scrunched her face up tight as she started to wake up groggily. “Ehh?”

Then there was a loud sigh and a bright light was turned on.

“Ah!” She cringed away and shut her eyes tighter. “Mmmf.” It hurt when she blinked her eyes open gradually, the light from her room insufferable.

Almost as insurable as the bright smile on her dad’s face as he bent down in front of her; he was already dressed for work like always. “There’s a Conjunction of the Moon and Venus in two hours,” he told her in a voice which was too fresh for—she blearily looked at her alarm clock— _3 am_.

_It was 3 am?!_

“Go away…” She mumbled turning over so she could bury her face in her pillow.

“Mitsuko, this is a special event, look sharp!” Her dad gently tugged on her shoulder to try to turn her around. “Your brother is already away and getting ready—you need to hurry so we can set up the telescope.”

“Fuck off, dad!” She swore into her pillow.

“…Mitsuko.” Dad’s voice darkened, making her tense. “Get out of bed. _Now_.”

She shivered despite her best efforts, but then quickly felt a spark of annoyance, turning around to glare at him. “Why?!”

His face smoothed out quickly, the darkness fading quickly. “…Because I want to spend time with you and your brother.”

That threw her off, making her scowl in annoyance when she felt her chest tighten from guilt.

Her glare intensified. “…Fine,” she spat out, before plopping her head back in the pillow. “Leave me alone and I’ll be down in twenty minutes…” she mumbled sourly.

“That’s the spirit!” He ruffled her hair in what she assumed was a fond gesture. “We’ll be waiting in the garage—make sure you bring a coat.”

And with that, he was out of her door, deliberately leaving the light on like the prick he was.

* * *

By the time she dragged herself downstairs, it was thirty minutes later, not twenty.

She grumbled, walking down the steps in a large blue hoodie and leggings, a thick set of boot slippers on her feet while she held her pillow close like a teddy.

True to his word, he and Gakushuu were already downstairs, both dressed more presentable than her.

Her brother was dressed in a thick coat, holding a large telescope case and looked amused when he saw her.

“Why are you carrying a pillow?” dad asked, raising an eyebrow.

She gritted her teeth. “Because it’s three in the morning!”

“03:35 actually,” dad responded curtly, opening the car with his keys. “Come along then.”

“Where are we even going?” Mitsuko dragged her feet as she wandered to the car. “If you’re gonna kill us, can you wait until we’ve at least eaten first?”

Dad sighed from the front seat. “If I was going to murder you I wouldn’t be so obvious, Mitsuko.”

She rolled her eyes and got in the backseat with her brother, grimacing when the telescope nudged into her side.

“Does mom know where we’ll be?” she asked, already resting her pillow against the window so she could get some more sleep.

“Yes.” Dad’s voice was stiff.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes before closing them, drifting off to sleep in less than two minutes.

Then she was rudely awakened when the car door was opened and the only thing that stopped her from falling out head first was her seatbelt.

“We’re here,” Dad said brightly, leaning against the car door.

Mitsuko glowered at him darkly, undoing her seatbelt to practically collapse onto the grass outside. “I need sleep, damn it!”

“Told you, you don’t have the endurance,” Gakushuu teased, stepping over her to get out.

Why the fuck had been forced to live with a bunch of insomniacs?!

She dragged herself up onto her feet and followed them, looking around groggily to find out where they were.

It looked like their dad had driven them to a hill area near a field, it looked like somewhere in the country but the glow of the city lights in the distance broke that illusion.

Her eyes widened when she lifted her gaze to the sky and saw it clear with the crescent moon glowing and the stars out in all their detail.

_…It was also freezing._

Mitsuko shivered and held her pillow close when she saw her breath.

_Shit. I should have brought a coat…_

“I told you to bring a coat.” Dad’s voice made her scowl. “Hm.” He tutted and walked back to the car while Gakushuu set-up the telescope. “Here.” He pulled out an orange fleece blanket from underneath the seat of the car. “This will help.”

Mitsuko glared at the ground as he slipped the blanket over her shoulders. “…Thanks.”

He patted her on her shoulders and smiled down at her. “Well I can’t have you freeze to death from stupidity—I couldn’t bear the shame.”

“Like you’re one to talk!” she yelled.

“It’s set-up,” Gakushuu told them, already looking bored as he stood by the telescope.

“Ah, wonderful!” Dad smiled and walked over, peering into the eyepiece. “Just a little while longer and we’ll be able to see it perfectly.” He adjusted the dial while his children watched behind him. “Did you know the close approach they make is technically called an appulse?”

“Yes,” the twins replied tiredly.

Dad chuckled. “Ah, yes, I suppose you probably did learn that already.” He stood up and smiled at them. “Would you like to look?”

The two of them stayed still for a while until Gakushuu sighed and walked over to the telescope to look.

“It’s clear isn’t it?” Dad smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, making her brother shift slightly. “Even from the naked eye, their movements are detailed”

Gakushuu hummed, looking uncomfortable as he stood up and eased the hand off his shoulder. “Yeah…” He voided his gaze, the bruise and cut on his cheek still very visible. “I know.”

Dad’s smile dimmed and an uncomfortable silence settled, making Mitsuko grimace.

She walked over to them and peered through the eyepiece. “It looks weird though, with the moon being a crescent and all…”

“Yes, but that’s also what makes it an amazing event,” dad said pleasantly. “And the fact the event is even able to take place due to its change in distance is phenomenal.”

“I guess…” She straightened up and frowned at him when he started to remind her of Koro-sensei. “It’s interesting…”

Dad smiled at that. “Yes, it is. That’s why I wanted to share it with you.” He hesitated, but then rested a hand on her head. “Every new day brings something important to consider…”

Mitsuko hummed, snuggling her face into the pillow. For once the hand on her head felt comforting instead of threatening, feeling no ill-intent behind it.

A memory resurfaced of being held in her dad’s arms as she watched fireworks from a bedroom window. An overwhelming feeling of safety flickering passed.

He placed his other hand on her shoulder and she felt herself lower her guard a fraction, leaning against him a little.

The frostbite from the cold seemed to fade, making her smile softly.

“I used to observe many constellations and celestial events when I was around your age,” dad told then quietly. “It was my favourite pass time.”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened at the small sprinkle of information.

Their father never talked about the past, much less his childhood. They’d only found out his mother’s name when they’d attended the funeral when they were twelve.

“…Really?” she asked, lifting her head slightly to look at him.

The smile on his face was…fond? She wasn’t sure because she’d never really seen it before.

“Yes,” he replied lightly. “I used to take both of you here when you were babies whenever you wouldn’t go to sleep, so your mother could rest.” He smiled pleasantly. “But then your brother fell down the hill and nearly broke his neck, so your mother banned me.”

Mitsuko felt a small smile spread across her face, but it faded when she glanced over at her brother when she heard him shift on the spot.

He was still guarded, with his hands stuffed in his coat pockets, and his gaze firmly trained on the grass.

She sighed deeply, watching the white mist from her breath rise up and spread into the air. “So…what’s gonna happen when the divorce goes through?”

Gakushuu grimaced while dad seemed to grow tense.

There was a long stretch of silence.

“…Well,” dad said after a moment. “If it is agreeable with the both of you, I…” She’d never heard him sound anxious like this before. “I would like, perhaps, if you would visit on the weekends.”

“Oh.” Was all she could seem to say in response.

“Weekends tend to be busy,” Gakushuu’s voice was cold when he looked at their dad blankly. “They have to be used for maximum productivity, _remember_?”

Mitsuko winced, holding her pillow tight.

“…Yes.” Dad’s voice was quiet. “I remember.”

Another heavy silence hung in the air

She wanted to go home, feeling whatever interest she had for this bonding experience quickly start to dwindle.

Dad might have sensed it since he pulled her closer. “I’m sure I can make arrangements to fit around your schedules…” Then he cleared his throat. “Regardless, we’re going to miss the conjunction if we don’t look.”

Mitsuko looked through the eyepiece when her dad nudged her towards the telescope.

She became distracted from her earlier thoughts as she watched Venus near the misshapen moon in a different way than all the years before. “Huh...” She smiled faintly and looked over at her brother. “Gaku-nii, come look!”

Gakushuu scowled, glancing at their dad and then her, before sighing and walking over, peering into the eyepiece when she moved away. “Hm…”He frowned when he adjusted the focuser. “The moon is closer than in previous years.” He shrugged. “But given we’re not all underwater, that was a particular stroke of luck for humanity.”

Her smile wavered when she thought of what would happen when March came around, and couldn’t help but wonder if this was the last time she’d ever see the moon conjunction with Venus.

“Yeah…” She buried her face in her pillow and drew closer to her dad without even realising until he placed a hand on her head again, pulling her closer until her pillow was pressed against his stomach as he gently stroked the back of her head.

_This was…nice._

She felt a small spark of warmth start to flood her chest, feeling safe like when she had when she’d been little.

“…It’s your turn,” Gakushuu’s voice was cold.

Mitsuko lifted her head from the pillow and looked over her shoulder.

Her brother was staring at her with a tight expression, lone he usually gave after they’d argued or she’d done something he deemed especially annoying.

She frowned, starting to feel a raw nag of guilt when she looked at the fading mark on his cheek. “Okay.” She pulled away from their dad and looked through the eyepiece of the telescope.

From the corner of her eye, she could just about see Gakushuu glaring at their dad as the two stared at each other, making her stomach twist uneasily.

* * *

“Mitsuko, you ready?”

Hayami snapped her fingers in front of her face to bring her back from whatever she’d been thinking about.

“Huh?” Mitsuko slipped the headphones off so they rested on her neck, looking away from the live feed coming from the portable screen Itona had set-up. He was by her side making some adjustments to the video equipment on the table in the hotel room they were taking base at. “Oh. Right.” She smiled. “Yep. All ready to go.”

Hayami nodded, adjusting her sniper on her shoulder as Chiba stood behind her where the door was. “We’ll radio when we’re within distance.”

Mitsuko nodded. “I’ll monitor with Itona.” She slipped the headphones back on, before pressing the mic. “Agents, get in position. Target approaching in 30 minutes sharp.”

“Roger,” came the reply from one of the agents.

Itona drank from a juice box as he turned in the chair. “All equipment is ready and everyone’s in position.” He hummed, slurping from the straw. “It might work…”

She hummed, her thoughts trailed back to the moon and the clear night sky, wondering how many celeste events there were left until the end of March…

She smiled grimly as she let out a deep breath. “I hope so too...”


	52. You don't have to worry anymore

"Agents target will be approaching, turn off your comlinks so he doesn't pick up the feed," Mitsuko ordered from the second channel. "Stay fixed on the objective while our class handles the rest. And remember, no guns."

 _"...Roger."_ There was some doubt in the agent's reply.

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed because the last thing she needed was some hotshot agent messing up her plan just because they viewed them as children.

"Good." She hummed and turned to the next feed. "I swear..." She sighed, putting it out of her mind so it wouldn't distract her. "Okay, guys. It's now or never people," Mitsuko instructed her classmates on the second channel. "Sniper squad is standing by."

 _"Sprinklers looks good to go, bitch-in-training,"_ Maehara said cheerfully.

She gritted her teeth and gripped the mic tighter. "Stop calling me that!"

Itona adjusted a dial on the set-up next to them. "I'm boosting the video feed signal."

 _"Also FYI the place really reeks of plastic,"_ Okano commented form her radio.

 _"Yeah, it's kind of a turn-off from the samples,"_ Isogai commented sheepishly.

Mitsuko smirked. "Good. The smell of plastic from the processed food packaging will help throw off the scent of the BBs and with that many people crowded into the building, it will distract him from smelling the Sniper team."

 _"Hey! Guys, target just landed!"_ Mimura interrupted them.

She tensed, scrutinising the video feed. "Visuals on his disguise."

 _"Yeah..."_ Kimura sounded unsure. _"He's dressed as a woman again..."_

There was a collective sigh.

 _"...Why?"_ Takebayashi sounded confused.

 _"I don't know but that dress definitely doesn't compliment his figure,"_ Kataoka remarked.

 _"Talk about out of season too!"_ Hara sounded aghast.

Mitsuko sighed, burying her face in her hands. "Guys...focus..."

 _"Right!"_ They all responded.

 _"Okay, he's walking towards your field of vision,"_ Sugaya said. _"In three....two....one."_

"I got him," Itona said, adjusting his headphones in place as he looked at the footage. "He's in line."

She looked over at the screen and sighed when she saw Koro-sensei in a very baggy pink dress and cropped brown wig. "The dress just makes him look fatter—I'm all for body positivity and gender fluidity but he really doesn't work that look."

Itona nodded solemnly. "His colour coordination here is really letting him down and he hasn't properly stuffed his bra. One breast is bigger than the other."

 _"3 out of 10 disguise ranking,"_ Rio commented, sighing.

 _"Agreed!"_ The class replied.

Mitsuko shook her head and watched as he entered the building. "Okay. The target is inside," she told the others. "The last agents are inside and they're closing the door. "Nagisa, are you two in range to trigger the sprinklers."

 _"Yeah, me and Kayano are in the vents,"_ he replied.

 _"Which are really tight by the way,"_ Kayano complained.

"Sorry, guys, but the soundproofing made it too small for anyone else to fit," Mitsuko said in amusement. "And since you guys are the smallest..."

 _"Besides, what's wrong with being cramped in a tight space with Kayano, Nagisa?"_ Karma's sly voice came through the speaker. _"It sounds cosy."_

 _"Shut up, Karma!"_ Nagisa sounded flustered.

"Chat later, boys, we have an objective to meet," Mitsuko reminded them sternly. "Target is currently sampling some free soda and is moving more towards the centre."

She eyed the screen, looking at the massive hall where Koro-sensei stood out like a sore thumb with that pink dress. The agents were trying to act as civilian as possible, chatting, joking, eating...but some of them looked a little too athletic.

Mitsuko grimaced, earning a look from Itona. "What is it?"

"I told Mr Karasuma I needed a variety of actors, but the people they've given are way too attractive, fit, and young to be realistic," she told him, frowning. "And there's only a handful of kids there—it's suspicious!"

Itona frowned, watching as Koro-sensei eagers started eating lots of samples from a cake stall. "He does seem too busy eating to notice."

"Yeah, well, let's hope so," Mitsuko replied, growing uneasy. "Sniper squad, position?"

 _"We have a good vantage point,"_ Chiba replied. _"Guns aimed and loaded, ready for fire."_

 _"Waiting for the target to enter perimeter,"_ Hayami added coolly.

Mitsuko nodded. "The crowd is due to manoeuvring Koro-sensei towards the centre after he hits the third stall since that's where his favourite foods are situated—good job on that research, by the way, Yada and Hara."

Yada giggled. _"Thanks, Bitch-sensei says you have to research a man's tastes to trap them properly."_

Mitsuko nodded, smiling as she watched Koro-sensei move more towards the centre as he was surrounded by people.

"Nagisa, be ready to pull the trigger," Mitsuko said into the mic. "Kayano, connect that alarm re-rout, we don't want the fire department turning up."

 _"Gotcha,"_ Kayano replied brightly.

Koro-sensei was in the middle of the crowd trying to get to another stall, completely surrounded while he chewed on some chocolate marshmallows on a stick.

 _"Target locked,"_ Hayami reported.

"Okay..." Mitsuko narrowed her eyes as Koro-sensei got in position. "Trigger in three...two...one!"

The sprinklers were set off, sending a goo of brown paint down, splashing some of the cameras with a few drops.

But before the paint even hit the ground there was a whoosh as Koro-sensei's dress pulled up like a parachute, his undergarments—was that an octopus patterned nightgown?!—showed briefly in a flash as the dress absorbed the first splash of anti-sensei paint.

_Shit!_

"Take the shot!" Mitsuko yelled into the mic.

They barely had a few seconds to—

In a flash, a majority of the agents started firing recklessly at Koro-sensei in a mass of pink BBs.

"Shot blocked!" Chiba yelled.

"Damn it!" Mitsuko slammed her fist on the table, making it shake. "Those idiots!"

Koro-sensei's chuckle echoed from the sound feed as he dodged under a table and with a flutter, removed the table cloth from one stall to throw at the agent.

"Guys, he's still trapped in there," Mitsuko told the others. "And the sprinklers are still—"

Koro-sensei spun around, creating a wind blast which threw the food and some from the agents away, stopping the paint from touching him.

The cameras were splattered with the paint, but the waterproof coating Itona put on the glass would clear that soon enough.

"Guys, we're blind right now. Sniper squad?" Mitsuko asked the two in position. "Do you have a clear hit?"

"I'm trying," Chiba replied, a shot coming a second later. "No. He's out of rage. The blankets are in the air—he's grabbing them," he recounted. "He's—is he making a pathway?"

"It's more like cover, so the paint won't hit—he's heading to the exit," Hayami said hurriedly as a shot rang out. "Taking another shot now—ugh!"

There were multiple shots in the background.

"What's happening?" The paint was only just sliding off the camera, making it hard to see.

"The other agent are firing! It chaos!" It was the first time she'd heard Hayami sound so angry. "No clear shot. Koro-sensei wrapped the guards watching the door in plastic! They're bound."

"Target outside on street!" Mimura reported. "Civilians present. The mission is a no go."

Mitsuko made a frustrated sound. "Damn it!" She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists. "How could...Wait..." Her gaze sharpened. "Itona, replay ten seconds before the sprinklers were triggered."

Itona did so, showing Koro-sensei in the crowd.

She peered closer at the footage. "Zoom in to the right."

It zoomed in on one actor touching his pocket, the hand lingering there like a cop would rest his hand on a gun, and if Koro-sensei had seen that...

She felt a rise of frustration. "They had _one_ job!"

* * *

"Hehe." Koro-sensei was munching on the free samples he'd managed to recover in his escape. "I wonderful effort, Mitsuko!" He said as he addressed them in the hotel room while they all looked annoyed. "I'm very grateful for the free samples thrown my way!"

Mitsuko's eyes twitched as she watched him happily gorge on his recovered victories on the hotel bed.

"It really was a good idea since you combined and adapted from previous assassination attempts." Koro-sensei chuckled. "Though, your main mistake came from underestimating how trigger-happy the government's agents are; bearing in mind it was just too much of a tempting opportunity for them to miss," he explained. "Along with some details you overlooked such as not making the cloth anti-me material or providing realistic diverse actors to make the set-up more convincing."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth. "....I'm getting my dad to cut your salary."

"WHAT!!?" He nearly choked on his snacks, bolting off the bed. "NO! You can't do that!!"

Her classmates started to smirk as they watched their teacher grow flustered and panicked.

She raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Yes, I can. I'm your boss's daughter." Her smirk grew evil as her classmates laughed. "It comes with certain privileges after all."

"NO!" He sobbed, falling to the floor. "I can barely scrape by as it is!!"

Mitsuko smiled in satisfaction when she saw his despair, bending down to pat him on the head. "Sorry, sensei, but you should know by now us Asano are petty when we fail!"

Rio grinned down at their teacher as she rested an arm on Mitsuko's shoulder. "Looks like it's more fried tissues for Christmas, sir!"

Mitsuko smiled sweetly, holding Rio's hand in hers. "And if you're lucky we'll help out by giving you our leftover trash for New Years!"

"You children are so cruel!" Koro-sensei sniffled. "None of you are getting Christmas cards this year!!"

The class just laughed.

"Aw! Poor Koro-sensei," Kurahashi cooed, giggling.

* * *

Mitsuko wasn't sure when it would end, but since Gakushuu wasn't playing along as much as he could, their father kept pushing for her to spend time with him outside the school with different non-study focussed activities.

Thankfully, he'd seemed to accept that she was not going to watch any of the movie choices he'd proposed and had tried to find other ways they could spend the time.

So she'd agreed to let him take her somewhere to eat since it meant she could get an expensive free meal out of him; she'd even skipped lunch so she could get a maximum intake of food to heap up the bill price.

She'd even made the effort of looking nice by wearing the new red and black dress she'd bought with Gakushuu and the most expensive matching heels she could find in her closet—and mom had let her wear make-up! Albeit it was only some eyeliner but it was something at least.

Mitsuko touched her stomach when it grumbled, her glittery shoes stepping onto the varnished floor of the restaurant when she stepped out of the lift. She looked around the lobby while she followed her dad towards the front desk.

The place was more fancy and glittery than the placed dad or mom normally dragged them for the rare family or birthday meal. The floors were dark wood and the pillars were a pristine white with carvings of different warlords etches into the stone. There was a fountain full of koi fish running down the wall where there seemed to be a waiting area with seating and the ceiling was high with large warm lights shining down.

There was a calming sound of a harp playing as well in the background from somewhere.

"Ah! Chairman!" The man at the front desk recognised her dad when they approached and bowed. "The usual table?"

Dad chuckled, raising a hand. "Oh, no, I'm here on leisure rather than business, Tachibana." He placed a hand on Mitsuko's head. "I booked a table for two by the window. Myself and my daughter."

"Yes, of course." Tachibana looked at Mitsuko and bowed. "It's wonderful to finally meet you, young lady, your father speaks of you and your brother often."

She looked slightly surprised by that, but hid it with a smile, bowing back. "Thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you."

It didn't take long for them to be shown to their table by the window and her eyes nearly burst from her skull when she saw the view.

"Wow!" She rushed over to the window and smiled, pressing her hands to the glass, ignoring some of the annoyed looks the other customers were shooting her. "You can see the sky and the whole city from here."

The whole city was a glow with the usual lights amplified with festive decorations, outlining the buildings clearly and making the whole thing look colourful like magic. The rest of the stars were bleached out by the light pollution but you could still see some of them and the crescent moon was still bright enough to dominate the sky.

Dad chuckled, already sat the table as he folded a napkin on his lap. "Yes, it is quite a view—you can stare at it longer once we've ordered."

Mitsuko hummed, staring at the view a little longer before tearing herself away to sit down opposite him. She picked up the drinks menu and scanned through, her finger pausing on the wine briefly, but thinking better of it and turning to the non-alcoholic selection.

"I'll just get a lemonade...are any of these prices really worth it anyway? Who charges this much yen for _water_?"

Dad seemed amused by that, not even glancing at his menu. "Those who know quality."

She rolled her eyes. "More like those who like getting ripped off," she replied, shrugging. "It's nice though." She looked around at the other customers who all seemed to be adults or teenagers. "So you have meetings here?"

"Yes. They cater very well to it, and it's never too loud," dad replied, glancing over as a waitress began to approach them. "And negotiations are easy to influence when others are drunk or too full of food to properly object."

"Uh?" She raised an eyebrow.

Dad smiled at the waitress when she arrived. "A Karuizawa 1981, please, and a lemonade for my daughter."

"Of course." The waitress nodded, and wrote it down, before handing them their food menus. "And for the table?"

"Rice balls please!" Mitsuko smiled sweetly. "With lots of sauce dips."

The waitress seemed to find that funny. "Of course. Would you like tea or water for the table as well?"

"No tea! Just water," Mitsuko said quickly, growing uneasy when the waitress gave her a questionable look. "Please..."

Mitsuko looked through the menu to avoid meeting her dad's gaze and scrutinised the starter while the waitress left.

Dad remained quiet and briefly glanced through the menu before closing it and looking out of the window for a while.

Mitsuko kept her gaze on the menu even when a waiter came with their drinks.

She chewed on her tongue and decided to pick a starter which was the most expensive but something she hadn't tasted before. She was tempted to order the octopus seafood dish but felt guilty when she thought of Koro-sensei and decided to choose the Tori Gai for her main and then ice-cream for dessert.

It didn't take long for the waitress to return with a jug of water and some rice balls with a selection of colourful dips.

The two of them placed the rest of their order and then watched as she bowed and took their menus, leaving them in silence again.

"So...you talk about me and Gakushuu to your friends?" she said after a moment.

"Of course," dad replied lightly, glancing briefly through the menu before setting it down. "You two have accomplished so much—it makes them quite jealous and often leads them to complain about their own children after they've had a few more drinks."

The corner of her lips twitched upwards at that. "Huh..." She fiddled with the corner of her menu. "So what do you say about me?"

"Well, there's lots of things. They're quite charmed by you." His smile grew amused. "I've had a few high ranking politicians and business associates already proposing some arranged marriages."

She nearly choked on her lemonade, causing a few customers to look over in irritation. "W-what?!"

Dad seemed to find this even more amusing, clasping his hands on the table. "Yes, there were a few very tempting offers. I was disappointed I had to decline..."

"That isn't funny!" She hissed, glaring at him.

"I disagree." He shrugged, dipping a rice ball in one of the sauces before eating it. 

Mitsuko scowled at him petulantly. "As if I'd actually agree--I'd rather murder them beforehand."

"Yes, I assumed so as well." He dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "Speaking of killing..." He sipped his drink. "I heard your teacher avoided your latest ploy."

She grew on guard at that, expecting a lecture for the failure. "...Yes."

"A very good effort," he said instead, smiling. "Mr Karasuma showed me the details and it was very thorough."

Her brow furrowed. "Oh." She twisted the napkin on her lap."...Thanks." She shrugged. "It was...fun." She smiled slightly, thinking back to what Koro-sensei said. "He's the one who put me up to it actually."

"Really?" Dad raised an eyebrow while the waitress came over with the starter in hand.

"Yeah..." Mitsuko took a long whiff of the food before picking up her chopsticks. "He said I have leadership potential and he was right." The smile dimmed when she looked at her dad. "I mean...I know you don't think so but..." She shrugged again. "I think I'm pretty good at it actually..."

Dad stared at her for a moment with an expression which was hard to decipher. "...I'm glad to be proven wrong then."

Her lips tugged into a smirk. "Yeah, it seems to be becoming a habit." She grinned when she saw him frown. "Anyway, it's made me think about the future...well, if things go well anyway." Her smile wavered. "I think I want to study towards PR and events instead of corporate," she said, starting to feel nervous when her dad just stared at her. "I've looked into it and it's way more fun—plus I'd get paid for bossing people around which would be great!"

"I see...though I do still believe corporate marketing plays more towards your skillset." His frown deepened. "I'm not sure PR and events would be the best investment of your time..."

Her nerves threatened to creep back up but she pushed forward. "Yeah, but I don't want to do that." She shrugged, poking at her food. "It's _my_ choice."

"...Yes," he said after a moment, still looking unconvinced. "It is your choice." He sighed. "I assume you've done research into it...analysed the probability of success and highest pay grade?"

She almost scoffed at how much he still hadn't changed. "Obviously. I'm not an idiot, dad." She chewed on her food for a moment, considering her next point. "I'll send over a slideshow of why you should be funding my dreams so you'll know exactly where your money is being invested into."

He hummed, staring at her for a long moment. "I expect a presentation of no less than thirty slides to convince me this is the right decision."

"I can have it sent over by Friday." She smiled in amusement. "And if that doesn't work, there's always the lawsuit against you, so if me and Gakushuu win that we can just forcefully take the money from you to pay for whatever university we want!"

"Ah, yes." He smirked, shaking his head faintly. "I've already had my lawyer draft a response—you won't win."

"Doesn't mean we won't try!" Her smile sharpened. "Besides, I told you, after March is over I'm dragging you through the tabloids."

The look on his face actually started to look fond. "I look forward to the challenge." He sipped his drink. "Gakushuu seems happy about it..."

Her head perked up at that, chewing on her food as she watched him warily. "Well, you did smack him across the room so..." The fond look on his face faded to a grimace. "He isn't going to take that easily. Actions have consequences after all." She shrugged and drank some of her lemonade. "Honestly, I don't blame him for being angry—you're lucky he even talks to you civilly."

"...Yes, I suppose you're right," dad said quietly, staring at his plate. "...I admit I am still surprised you are willing to entertain all this."

"...Yeah, well it's not really that much of a surprise." Mitsuko sighed grimly, shrugging uncomfortably. "You've spent a good nine years manipulating the fact that I want your love and affection." She looking down at her food, feeling something hurt in her chest. "I kept wanting things to go back to how they used to be...but Gakushuu kept saying that wouldn't happen."

She remembered the gradual coldness that had seeped into her brother after each passing day, and how his bright smiles had faded so much that they became a rarity that she kept hoping to see with every lighthearted joke or teasing comment she made.

"But I keep thinking about the past and about how much has changed...how much has already changed this year." She shifted her gaze to her lap. "And that...if we die then...this is it. This is all our family is and all you and mom can do is scramble to make up for the lost time." The smile on her face was tight. "But Gakushuu doesn't know just how little time we have left—so don't expect him to run into your arms. That takes time, and you haven't earned it."

Dad was silent, looking paler than before, staring down. "...No, I haven't."

The starter food in her mouth started to taste bitter but she kept eating it to fill the silence until her plate was just about empty, with a few scraps signalling to the waiting staff she was ready for the main.

Mitsuko glanced at her father who'd finished his starter as well and was just drinking the whisky. She sighed and looked at the window, looking out at the city lights when it started to snow.

"Here we are!" The waitress was back, and when she looked over she saw she was carrying their main meal. "Is there anything else you would like?" She asked as she placed their plates down in front of them.

"No, thank you..." Mitsuko replied dully while dad smiled at the woman politely.

"Yes. That will be all, thank you."

The woman left quickly with a bow, leaving them to eat.

Mitsuko took a bite of the Tori Gai as the two of them ate on silence for a while.

Dad glanced at her before looking down again. "...You're correct about hanging onto the past," he said quietly, causing her to look up. "...If we're being honest...for years whenever I'd look at you or Gakushuu, all I ever seemed to see was..." He couldn't look at her. "You both remind me so much of _him_."

Her stomach twisted, looking down when blurred memories of Ikeda threatened to resurface. "...Is that good or bad...?"

"...Sometimes good, but..." Dad sighed deeply. "When I'd look at you...the way you'd act, your jokes your...emotions." His voice grew grim. "Every bit of it reminded me of _him_ and how...I kept thinking of how the world would eat you up and spit you out." His skin was growing so pale he looked ill. "And I thought...if I just pushed you a _little more_..."

Mitsuko kept her gaze on her lap, taking a deep breath as she listed and felt her eyes start to sting and threaten to ruin the make-up her mom had delicately applied with care.

"And when you'd cry or I'd see how afraid you were, I'd think...this is good," his voice was soft. "I'd think; she needs to learn to be _more_ afraid so...so she can be stronger so she can learn just how cruel the world is." He sighed again. "I thought the end result would justify whatever means necessary, so long as you became strong."

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. "...Well...I am strong so..." She took a deep breath, meeting his gaze with hers. "So you don't have to worry about me anymore."

There was something remorseful in his eyes, unable to hold her gaze for long. "Yes, I suppose you're right. As your teacher, I don't need to worry about you anymore." He smiled at her hesitantly. "But if you'll indulge me, I would like to worry as your father. For however long I'm allowed to be."

She felt something warm spread from her stomach to her chest which threatened to take over. "...I may allow it," she replied neutrally, knowing it was dangerous to take him on his word alone. "So long as you make more of an effort with Gaku-nii." Her eyes narrowed. "Starting by using his first name instead of being a coward about it."

He actually winced a little at that, sighing. "...I will try." He poked at his food. "Though, I do think that would just make him more uncomfortably."

"Yeah, well, one of you has to put the effort in and since it's your fault our family is as messed up as it is, you have to try harder," she said sternly, holding her head up high. "Words are nothing without their actions to back them up. Remember?"

"...Yes." Dad let out a deep breath, shaking his head faintly. "You're correct."

"Of course I am." She ate her meal; the taste was delicious. "Someone in the family needs to be smart."

He gave her a small smile, looking amused. "Perhaps, though if you're going to execute another plan to deal with your teacher, I would recommend not overestimating the government's competence." His smile grew crooked. "Mr Karasuma seemed very irritated when he had to explain to me why the attempt failed."

Mitsuko smiled, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "Yes, well, I did strike some damage to Sensei when I told him I'd have you cut his pay."

Dad's smile widened. "Did you now?"

She nodded primly, finishing another bite of her Tori Gai. "Yes, he was quite desperate."

Dad chuckled deeply. "How delightfully amusing." He looked at her expectantly. "I assume you've prepared a list of reasons why I should do so?"

"Yes, actually." A smile threatened to break across her face as she felt like laughing "I've made mental notes of his many unprofessional conducts over the past nine months which go against the school's standards. All of which can be backed up with physical evidence and witnesses."

"Excellent," dad replied, looking very sadistically amused now. "Please begin and then I will make my decision before we leave to pay the bill."

"Of course," Mitsuko said lightly, smiling. "The first reason can be found with his unhealthy porn collection hidden in his desk..."


	53. I'm here

“You made this hat yourself?!” The old woman gushed.

Mitsuko’s smile wavered as she held the wool in her hands for Rio’s grandmother, the two of them on the flower-patterned sofa in the small living room which was packed with different photos of the Nakamura and extended family on the walls and giant fireplace.

Rio’s grandmother held up the pink hat Mitsuko had made for Rio. The woman was in her 80’s and was short, she had the exact same eyes as Rio, but her hair was a dark brown and streaked with grey and tied up in a bun that was secured with a decorated pin; she smiled a lot.

“Thank you,” Mitsuko replied politely, bowing her head slightly. “I’ve been improving for months now.” She looked over at Rio who was sitting in the armchair opposite and was scowling.

Grandmother Nakamura smiled. “I tried to teach Rio when she was younger but she just found it boring.”

Rio’s scowl deepened, adjusting her legs so they were hanging off the armrest, spreading her jean covered thighs wide as she slummed back in the chair. “Because it was boring.”

Mitsuko gave a nervous laugh. “Um, well it takes some patience I guess.”

The old woman shot her granddaughter an annoyed look. “Rio sit properly—you’re not a boy!”

Rio’s face ticked across with irritation. “Yeah, I know.” She spread her legs wider and propped one leg up on the top of the seat. “It’s not like I’m wearing a skirt.” She shrugged and placed her hands behind her head. “Who cares?”

Mitsuko’s smile tightened since if Rio wanted to break the news to the old woman, she wasn’t exactly setting up the scene with sensitivity.

She watched as Grandmother Nakamura glared at Rio before smiling apologetically at her. “Anyway, it’s so nice to meet you properly,” the woman said politely. “We didn’t get the chance to talk much at my husband’s funeral and…well, Rio talked about you so much when she was younger.”

“Thank you.” Mitsuko chuckled. “Rio talks about you a lot as well,” she lied since Rio had only mentioned her grandparents a good handful of times.

The old woman hummed and handed her back the hat. “Well, I’ll just go check on the tea and then we can settle in the lounge.”

“Yes, that sounds wonderful, thank you,” Mitsuko replied politely, putting the hat back in her handbag.

The woman nodded and rose from the seat, smoothing down her dress before heading towards the kitchen.

Mitsuko’s smile dropped the minute the doors were slid shut. “Rio…”

“What?” Rio raised an eyebrow.

She frowned and walked over to the armchair. “What is wrong with you?!” she hissed, resting her hands on her hips. “You know what we came here to do, and you pissing her off before we’ve even done it, is really not helping determine a positive outcome.”

Rio grimaced, sitting up. “I’m just acting my usual self.”

“Oh, this is usual for you?” Mitsuko challenged.

 _“Yes.”_ Rio stood up and crossed her arms. “Okay, she’s…you know, and n matter what I do it’s never enough so…” She shrugged. “I’m just keeping it casual.”

“…Seriously?” Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. “Look, I get you’re trying to hide your nerves—been there, got the certificate—but it’s not helping.” She held her hand. “Just please, be honest.”

The other girl grimaced, pulling away. “Okay, fine,” she whispered, raising her hands defensively. “Maybe I am nervous, but it’s fine, I know what I’m doing,” she insisted, and then placed a hand on her chest. “This is my coming out, so just…let me do it the way I want, okay?”

Mitsuko sighed again, growing uneasy. “…Rio, I just…” She looked over her shoulder at the kitchen door when she heard footsteps. “Just let me know if you want me to step in, alright?”

“Well, duh,” Rio replied a little too casually. “If I need you, I’ll tell you, don’t worry.” She kissed her cheek, making Mitsuko blush. “I’ve got this.”

Mitsuko forced a small smile, nodding. “Well, okay then…”

The door slid open as Grandmother Nakamura appeared with the tea with a smile on her face. “Let’s all head to the lounge, shall we?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rio replied dismissively.

Mitsuko’s smile faltered. “Sounds great…”

When they arrived at the lounge it was a spacious placed with low seating, a comfy kotatsu in the middle of the room while the sides were decorated with some bookshelves. There was a small shrine near the emptiest corner for Rio’s late grandfather.

Mitsuko kept glancing at Rio while her grandmother poured the tea, ad she was starting to grow concerned when Rio’s gaze was fixed on the table.

“I heard finals went very well for the both of you,” Grandmother Nakamura said, smiling at Rio. “It’s good to see all that hard work rewarded.”

“Yes, it’s really a relief,” Mitsuko replied brightly when Rio didn’t respond. “Now we just need to focus on Entrance Exams.”

The old woman nodded and drank her tea. “Where will you be attending high school, Mitsuko?”

“I’m staying on for Kunugigaoka High School, along with my brother,” she replied, smiling fondly. “It’s our first choice.”

The woman nodded. “That’s nice to hear.” She turned to her granddaughter. “What school was your first choice, Rio?”

Rio shrugged, staring into her teacup. “Jasmine Joshi Dai Fozoku High School.”

“A wonderful school.” Grandmother Nakamura looked proud.

Rio sighed. “Yeah, I guess…”

Mitsuko touched her knee under the kotatsu. “We’re both studying really hard for entrance exams so it’ll be an intense few months! Especially with the school play coming up.”

“School play?” The old woman raised an eyebrow.

Mitsuko’s smile grew. “Yeah, my brother’s the council president and he’s tasked E Class with putting on the play for the school—it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

“Oh, well, that sounds lovely,” grandmother Nakamura replied. “Who are you playing Rio.”

Rio sipped her tea. “A sexy policewoman who rag-rags and balls a bunch of dumbasses.”

“Uh..” Mitsuko nearly choked on her tea when she the old woman’s shocked expression. “…And I’m helping with scheduling and managing.”

The old woman frowned. “I see…”

There was a long stretch of silence for a while until Rio let out a loud sigh. “Grandma…” She took a large gulp of her tea and then lowered the cup. “Mitsuko’s my girlfriend.”

Mitsuko tensed up while Rio’s grandma’s eyes widened in alarm. “E-excuse me?!” the woman stammered.

Rio wiped her mouth and slammed the cup on the table. “I like girls.” She narrowed her eyes at the old woman. “I like kissing girls, I like imagining what sex with girls would be like—“ Rio jerked a thumb at the girl. “—Specifically with Mitsuko.”

Mitsuko choked, turning bright red. “RIO!!”

Grandmother Nakamura looked like she’d have a heart attack.

“And sometimes I like boys—but honestly, I’ve been leaning more towards the lesbian scene right now.” Rio was shaking when she stood up and clenched her hands into fists. “I’m gay, lesbian, or whatever the stupid label is! I LIKE GIRLS!!”

The yell echoed across the whole room and had probably been heard by anyone outside as well. 

After that yell, the only thing left was complete silence with Rio’s grandmother gawking at her while Mitsuko was bright red and staring up at her girlfriend in alarm.

_…It could have been more delicately handled._

Rio let out a loud deep breath, glaring at the old woman. “ _Well_?”

Grandmother Nakamura just stared at her.

Mitsuko looked back and forth between the two of them, opening and closing her mouth.

Rio gritted her teeth, shaking more. “Are you gonna say something or what?”

The old woman remained silent, looking down for a moment before she stood up, dusting off her dress and walked over to her granddaughter.

“It isn’t a phase,” Rio started speaking, glaring at her. “It’s real and it means something so—“

The smack the old woman delivered to her granddaughter’s face was louder than any yelling Rio had done minutes earlier.

“Rio!” Mitsuko jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around the girl protectively, hurriedly edging between her girlfriend and the old woman.

Rio’s head was ducked, resting a hand on the smacked cheek while Mitsuko started to fret and tried to look at the sore skin.

Mitsuko felt a burning hot rage fill her when she looked over her shoulder at the old woman. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Rio’s grandmother’s expression was cold and closed off, not answering as she turned away from them and walked out of the lounge-like they weren’t even there anymore.

Mitsuko watched her in outrage, cradling Rio’s face. “Come back—“

“Let’s go.” Rio’s voice was dead, scaring her. “Come on.” She grabbed Mitsuko’s wrist and started to lead her out without another word.

“Rio…” Mitsuko stared at the back of her head in concern as they grabbed their coats and ventured out into the cold again

They didn’t stop walking even after they’d left Grandmother Nakamura’s street and were heading down the hill of the neighbourhood.

“Rio?” She dug her heels into the frost-covered pavement and grabbed onto a lamppost. “Rio, just stop!” She wrenched her wrist free, making her freeze. “Hey, it’s okay…” She touched her girlfriends back when Rio didn’t turn around. “It’s alright.”

“Yeah…” Rio’s voice sounded strange, setting her on edge. “Y-yeah, I know right—guess she’s off the Christmas list. Damn bitch!”

“…Rio?” Mitsuko hunched her shoulders, drawing closer as the snow started to fall. “H-how about I call a taxi, then we can hang at my house for a little while?”

“Fucking bitch,” Rio kept swearing, keeping her back to her. “F-fucking, old, ignorant, old…fucking…fucking…” A sob tore out from her throat as her hand covered her mouth. “Shit….”

Mitsuko grabbed her arm and turned her around, feeling her chest tighten when she saw tears streaming down the sore cheek. “Rio…”

Rio collapsed onto her, wrapping her arms around her tight as she sobbed into her shoulder. “Fuck.”

“It’s okay, I get it,” Mitsuko said softly, squeezing her tight as she pressed her face against her neck. “I’m here. Promise.”

* * *

Mitsuko buried her face in Rio’s shoulder as the two were spooned on the bed in her bedroom.

She sighed and looked at the open door, shaking her head at her mom’s rules, but Rio had said she didn’t mind.

“…Why do I keep doing this?” Rio said quietly, staring at the fish tank near the wall.

“What?” Mitsuko frowned, lifting her head to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

“…I keep saying stupid shit when I know how bad it’ll make things.” Rio replied numbly. “It’s like my brain can’t handle anything serious. It’s like I know what I should say or not say but then it’s like my brain re-wires and says _nope_ …” She gave a broken laugh. “It’s like, _no,_ say something stupid instead.” She curled in more on herself. “I mess everything up…”

Mitsuko held her closer. “I do that sometimes…”

Rio scoffed. “Being a bitch isn’t the same thing.”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the compliment.” She brushed some hair behind Rio’s ear, staring at her. “Look, I’m not going to lie and say you don’t use humour to overcompensate, and yeah it can come out at the wrong times, but it also can be a good thing.” She smiled and kissed her shoulder. “It helped me.” Rio peered at her from the corner of her eye. “And I happen to like it, a lot.”

Rio looked down briefly, sighing. “…I probably should have handled it better.”

Mitsuko held back a snort. “Honestly…it went better than I expected.”

Her girlfriend raised an eyebrow and turned around. “Wow. How much worse did you imagine it?”

She smirked. “I imagined more yelling and some furniture being thrown around—then an ambulance coming.”

A small laugh came out from Rio’s throat. “Right, of course.” She cupped Mitsuko jaw and smiled faintly. “Thanks for being there.” The smile drooped. “Thanks for being here to begin with…”

Mitsuko smiled warmly, kissing her. “I wanted to be there.” She nuzzled her face against her neck. “You’re my girlfriend.”

Rio hummed, the smile on her face growing sly as she leaned in for another kiss—

A giant bell-horn sounded, causing them to break apart in terror at the sound.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?!” Rio covered her ears.

“AH!” Mitsuko screamed, bolting up and looking over at the door. “WHAT THE—?!“

Her brother was leaning against the archway of the door with his phone held up and emitting a loud frequency noise.

“GAKUSHUU!!” She yelled at her brother at the same time Rio screeched. “ASANO!!”

Gakushuu turned off the noise and then arched an eyebrow. “Dinner’s ready,” he said lightly, crossing his arms as he glared at Rio. “I assume you’re joining us, Nakamura?”

Rio was still clutching her ears. “Fucking hell, Asano!”

Mitsuko’s ears were still ringing. “What was that about?”

Her brother huffed, pocketing his phone. “House rules,” he said primly. “No inappropriate activities in the bedroom.”

“We weren’t even doing anything!” Rio argued while Mitsuko blushed.

“…We were just kissing,” Mitsuko mumbled, covering her cheeks with her hands. “…Don’t tell mom and dad.”

Her brother wrinkled his nose in disgust, glaring at Rio as he half-turned to go. “Get downstairs, Nakamura, before I tell my parents how you were molesting my sister.”

“Gaku-nii!”

Rio threw a cushion at him as he turned his back. “Fuck you!”

* * *

“…I don’t think Gaku-nii liked the play very much,” Mitsuko commented while sitting on Rio’s desk.

“Good!” Rio rolled her eyes. “That’s what the creep gets for cockblocking.”

“Rio!” Mitsuko hissed, her cheek heating up when she looked around the still very full classroom.

Rio smirked, resting her chin on her palm. “What?”

Mitsuko frowned. “What if someone—?“

“Did you say _cockblocking_?” Karma rested his arm on Mitsuko’s head, grinning. “Don’t tell me you two were up to no good?”

“Shut up, Karma!” she yelled, glaring at him. “Mind your own business!”

Rio remained unbothered, smiling sweetly. “Asano stopped us from having fun.”

“RIO, PLEASE!” Mitsuko started sweating. “NOT HERE!”

Karma’s eyes glinted. “Really?” His teeth were sharp, peering down at Mitsuko. “Uh, oh! That’s not very proper for the Chairman’s daughter!”

“Fuck you!” she snarled at him.

Rio cackled, leaning back in her chair. “Aw, Mitsuko, don’t be embarrassed.”

“You can shove it as well!” Mitsuko yelled at her, making her laughter grow.

Karma wagged his finger. “Such language!” He patted her on the head as her glare grew deadly. “That’s not very—“

They all jumped when a large explosion ripped through their conversation.

“What the hell was that?!” Sugaya yelled, standing to his feet.

“Is the Principal trying to demolish the campus again?!” Okajima questioned shrilly.

“He better not!” Mitsuko followed the rest of the class outside to the front of the building where—

_What the hell?!_

Her eyes widened in horror when she saw Kayano standing on the roof with…with tentacles?!

_TENTACLES?!!_


	54. Everything's fine

When Kayano had left—or better put leapt away—with her tentacles. It was an understatement to say they had more than a few questions.

And to top it all off she was an actress and Ms Yukimura’s little sister!

_You couldn’t make this shit up!_

“Is this all really happening or are we just in a nightmare?!” Mitsuko exclaimed.

“…I’m leaning towards nightmare here,” Sugaya said, grimacing.

Koro-sensei looked subdued still after refusing to answer their questions still until Kayano was found.

“This is fucked up!” Mitsuko said, scowling, and then turned to Koro-sensei. “And you’re seriously going to go meet her on a field—she seems crazier than Shiro!”

Koro-sensei tensed. “You’re wrong,” his voice sharpened, making her frown. “Kayano is…confused and letting grief guide her actions.” His voice was grim. “And your teacher I need to help her before she causes permanent damage to herself.”

Itona nodded. “Even when following a strict regimen there were plenty of times the tentacles nearly killed me,” he said lowly, earning some concerned looks from his classmates. “if she’s acting out of anger and grief like Koro-sensei said, then they’ll drive her insane before they kill her.”

Mitsuko stiffened, growing worried. “How much time do we have before that happens?”

“I don’t imagine we have that long,” Koro-sensei replied, looking out of the window.

“Then we have to save her!” Okuda yelled, looking distressed.

Nagisa nodded, paler than before. “We have to be able to talk her down.”

Mitsuko grimaced and then sighed. “Looks like it’s class intervention time…”

* * *

They’d all agreed they needed to be there for Kayano, even if it meant going to a weird deserted grass at the back hills for 7pm.

Mom was busy catching up on some work in the dining room, and Gakushuu was apparently attending a sleepover with Ren and the other Big Five.

_Which was weird, but whatever. Let the nerds be nerds and watch their stupid Transformers movies._

It meant that at least everyone would be too busy to notice her absence for a few hours.

Mitsuko adjusted her bag, still dressed in her school uniform as she walked to the front door. She over her shoulder before she pressed her key into the front door.

“Going out?”

_Oh, come on!_

Mitsuko gritted her teeth. “Seriously….”

Dad slowly walked down the stairs to her. “Your curfew still stands at 8pm,” he reminded her, standing by her side with a raised eyebrow. “And disappearing without a word to your mother will make her worry.”

“I just…” She rattled for an excuse, crossing her arms. “My friend’s in trouble and I need to see her—I’ll be back before eight!”

“I doubt that,” dad replied dryly, shaking his head as he turned to the bowl of keys and removed his own. “Mayumi!”

“HEY!” Mitsuko snapped. “Don’t be a snitch!”

Dad smiled at her pleasantly. “We can’t worry your mother, Mitsuko.”

“What?!” Mom sounded annoyed.

“We’ve run out of eggs,” he replied brightly, surprising his daughter. “Mitsuko and I are running to the store—would you like something?”

There was a loud sigh. “No!” she replied, and then a second later. “We need more onions!”

“I’ll remember,” dad said pleasantly, before looking back at Mitsuko. “Well?”

Mitsuko stared up at him in surprise and then scowled. “You could have just said that from the start.”

His smile widened, opening the door. “True, I could have.” He gestured for her to step out first. “Now let’s hurry before that friend of yours makes a mess of things.”

Mitsuko looked over her shoulder as she walked down the steps. “I gather Mr Karasuma told you?”

“As usual, yes,” dad replied as they walked to the garage. “I admit the tentacles were…a surprise.” He frowned, opening the garage with the button on his key. “I’d already deduced she was the late Ms Yukimura’s sister, but the chemical alterations were unpleasant to find out.”

“Well, she’s a damn good actress if she even fooled you,” Mitsuko commented as she got in the passenger seat often car at put her seatbelt on.

A brief look of annoyance flashed across her father’s face as he got in the car. “I was keeping a close eye on her.” He clicked his seatbelt into place and shut the door. “Unfortunately the antics of your class did distract me somewhat.”

Mitsuko frowned as they reversed out of the driveway and through the open gates. “What was she like when you first met her?”

“…Interesting,” dad replied curtly, as they drove down the street. “She’s very intelligent, and passed the Transfer Entrance Exam on the first try—I wanted to transfer her to A Class at first.” His lips twisted into a scowl. “Unfortunately she broke a good number of my trophies right in front of me, so that thought was swiftly dashed away.”

She nearly choked. “Wait, she’s the one who did that!?”

“Yes.” Dad sighed irritably. “Which is how she landed herself in Class E.”

_Which is exactly what she wanted._

She almost laughed. “She manipulated you!”

Dad’s scowl worsened. “I would hardly call it manipulation. I knew her antics were deliberate and she was set on being sent to E Class, for whatever reason.”

Mitsuko’s smile was wide. “Nah, she totally duped you”.

He sighed in exasperation. “Nevertheless. This reckless behaviour, Mr Karasuma described is nothing short as a violation of the school rules, and if it is not corrected immediately I will have no choice but to expel her.”

“Yeah, if she doesn’t die first,” Mitsuko responded grimly, sitting back in her seat. “We have to talk her down…”

He glanced at her briefly before looking ahead again. “I’m sure yourself and your classmates will think of something, you always do,” he remarked, causing to look over curiously. “And Koro-sensei is a dedicated teacher, he wouldn’t dream of losing a student so carelessly…I’d have to cut his pay further if that occurred.”

She scoffed at the last bit, feeling some pressure relax from her shoulders. “Yeah, true.”

The rest of the car journey was in somewhat peaceful silence as she stared out of the window, keeping her gaze on the sky as she tried to stay calm.

When they reached the meeting point, her dad pulled up and parked on the side of the street near a fence which surrounded a block of thick trees.

“I’ll wait here until you’re finished,” he told her, reaching behind the seat to grab a thick hardback book. “There’s some leisure reading I have been meaning to catch up on.”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow, but then nodded undoing her seatbelt. “Right.” She unlocked the door and opened it partly. “Uh…dad?”

Dad didn’t look up from his book, turning a page. “Yes?”

“…Uh, thanks,” she mumbled and quickly left before he could reply, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

They realised when Kayano started lighting the field on fire and laughing manically, that perhaps talking her down definitely was a lost cause at this point.

“Look out!” Kurahashi cried as the flames spread.

Mitsuko raised her arm to protect her face, watching in horror as Koro-sensei and Kayano fought.

“Get back!” Karasuma warned them all as he stood with Bitch-sensei. “The flames are getting out of control.”

“DIE, YOU HEAR ME!!” Kayano screeched.

“We have to do something, guys!” Sugino pleaded as he watched in horror.

Then Koro-sensei flickering face appeared in front of them. “Children!”

Nagisa reeled back. “Koro-sensei?”

“You’re just a face now?” Sugaya said.

“Sorry! Partial clone!” Koro-sensei explained quickly while he fought off the green tentacles assaulting him. “I’m afraid Kayano’s attacks aren’t leaving me a lot of wiggle room! Believe me, it’s all I can do to project an afterimage of this!”

“Kind of cool actually,” Sugaya commented, earning a hit from Mitsuko. “Ow!”

“Please help me!” Koro-sensei yelled. “We need to remove Kayano’s tentacles immediately! The flames around her tentacles are only there because she’s throwing away her own life! Just one more minute and there’ll be nothing left! She’ll die!”

Mitsuko felt a bad taste in her mouth when she looked over at Kayano—the girl looked demonic and was surrounded by flames! Black veins creeping up from her neck and to her face.

“—Just like with Itona,” Koro-sensei was still talking. “We have very little time to calm her down!”

Hayami looked anxious. “…Then what do we…?”

“There’s only one option: Remove them during a fight!” Koro-sensei told them as he fought fiercely. “Her—actually the tentacles – bloodlust needs to be satisfied. I’ll let her hit my most vital spot.”

“Vital spot?” Mitsuko’s eyes widened in shock when she remembered what Itona had said about his heart.

“My heart is behind my tie. A direct hit would kill me!”

For some reason, Mitsuko’s stomach twisted at that when she imagined those green tentacles piercing Koro-sensei’s heart.

She quickly shook the thought away and tried to focus on what he was saying.

“One of you will need to…make Kayano forget her own bloodlust!” Koro-sensei explained.

“…Make her forget her bloodlust?” Hazama repeated.

“Uh…” Mitsuko frowned and looked at Kayano who was screaming.

“DIE!!” Kayano was foaming from the mouth.

“…Oh, yeah, because that won’t be hard at all?!” Mitsuko said sarcastically.

“The method doesn’t matter!” Koro-sensei was starting to sound exhausted. “It can be anything as long as it makes her forget about the assassination.”

Mitsuko hummed, touching her chin as she tried to think. “Are we just meant to burst out into song or something?”

“Uh…” Sugaya looked confused.

“We could have a dance battle?” Fuwa suggested.

“Dude, are you seeing how far gone she is? Like she’d even notice!?” Okajima pointed out.

“—And she’ll be pounding on your heart the whole time!” Kimura spoke up. “Wouldn’t you just die first?”

“Well, I do intend to avoid any direct attacks, but I’d say I have a 50/50 chance of survival,” Koro-sensei explained calmly.

_How can he be so calm?!_

“Fifty-fifty?” Kataoka stammered. “Wait, a—“

Mitsuko felt more uneasy, feeling something weird and strange when it became apparent he really could die right here and now…which….which was a good thing _. It was._

“If the entire class were unable to graduate unscathed.” Koro-sensei looked at them all warmly. “That would be far worse than death to me.”

Mitsuko stared up at him in shock. “Koro-sensei…”

“Oof!” Koro-sensei took a large hit. “I can’t keep my clone any longer! I need to focus on her tentacles!” The clone blurred away. “I’ll have to act in thirty seconds! Someone hurry and do it now!”

She watched as Kayano’s attacks became more vicious, ripping away at him like he was a rag doll.

“Shit…” Mitsuko grimaced. “What are we going to do?” She looked over at Rio who had a similar expression. “We don’t have enough—?”

They all jerked back when Kayano screamed and stabbed her tentacles straight into Koro-sensei's heart.

Mitsuko winced and felt the blood drain from her face. “No…”

Koro-sensei held her. “I swore to your sister I’d never let any of you go.”

Then Nagisa stepped forward.

Mitsuko looked on anxiously. “Wait, what is he—?”

Then Nagisa lunged in for a kiss.

She gasped along with her classmates. “What the—!?”

Rio smirked and swept in along with Karma, snapping a picture of their phones.

Nagisa deepened the kiss as Kayano’s cheeks turned pink.

“Hot damn!” Rio said, resting her chin on Mitsuko’s shoulder as she filmed. “He’s outdoing our hit rate.”

Mitsuko’s face flushed red. “THIS ISN’T THE TIME, RIO!!”

Kayano looked dizzy, collapsing against Nagisa when the kiss hit full critical rate.

“Koro-sensei…” Nagisa gently placed her down on the grass. “Does this work?”

“Full points, Nagisa!” Koro-sensei cried. “Now’s my chance!”

Mitsuko felt like she could breathe again when Koro-sensei started to remove the tentacles from the back of Kayano’s head.

“Oh, you prince charming!” Karma teased, showing him the photos on his phone.

“Uh…” Nagisa looked embarrassed.

Rio grinned and swung an arm around him. “Who knew you could stop her from moving by kissing her?” She looked over at Mitsuko and gave her a smile that would make her melt. “We’re gonna have to up our game, Mitsu-chan.”

“Rio!” Mitsuko blushed, ducking her head when Karma’s smile turned sly. “Stop it!”

Rio just laughed and kissed her cheek, making her blush darken. “Aw, but it’ll be fun!” she cooed, cupping her cheek to kiss her while Karma sniggered and took a picture in the back. “ _Promise._ ”

Mitsuko looked down, trying not to smile as her cheeks heated up more.

They were distracted when they heard a thud nearby and Koro-sensei collapsed in the dirt.

“Koro-sensei!” Mitsuko pulled away from Rio and moved towards their teacher as the other students gathered around.

“I’m all right!” Koro-sensei coughed up blood. “My heart just needs a while to regenerate!”

Mitsuko felt a rise of concern, clutching her hand against her chest. “How long will that take?”

“Not long.” Koro-sensei gave a strained laugh. “No doubt you have plenty you want to ask me, but I’ll have to ask you to wait a bit longer.”

The class all stayed silent as they watched him shake, until a bullet rang through the air, making Mitsuko jump.

The bullet missed, and everyone turned to the source.

Shiro stood at the top of the hill, next to a figure dressed all in black and holding a sniper.

“Don’t get carried away drawing us in by playing dead,” Shiro said coldly. “You clearly have a long way to go before you kick the bucket.” The rest of the class looked up at him in shock. “What a useless girl. If she was planning to put her life on the line for her revenge, you’d think she’d wait for a better time to act.”

“Shiro!” Itona exclaimed, stepping back.

Mitsuko’s eyes narrowed as Shiro kept speaking. “What is he doing here?!”  
  


Rio’s expression grew serious. “Bastard keeps coming back like a cockroach.”

Shiro reached to his face and threw some kind of eye patch on the ground. “I am the last one. You took everything from me.” His voice was harsh. “And so you will receive your just desserts.”

Shiro’s expression was cold when his face was revealed, his remaining intact like a thin slit-like a snake, while his other eye looked robotic.

“Who the hell is he?!” Sugaya questioned.

Mitsuko looked over at Koro-sensei. “I don’t know, but Koro-sensei recognises him.”

“Time to go, number two.” Shiro steered the intimidating figure in black away from the scene. “When March comes, let us give him the perfect death for his accursed life.”

“Accursed life?” Mitsuko’s brow furrowed, thinking back to everything she knew about Koro-sensei.

He grew up hungry with no parents, watched the person he loved die in his arms, and once had a student…

She thought back to his words of feeling ashamed and referring to himself. “…Just what are you ashamed of, sir?” she murmured, staring at her teacher. “What did you do?”

“Hey! She’s waking up!”

Mitsuko looked over at where the other half of her classmates were gathered around Kayano.

When they all surrounded her she burst into tears and started apologising for what had happened.

“I’m such an idiot!” Kayano looked down in shame. “you were all having so much fun in your pursuit of assassination, but all I wanted this entire year was revenge.”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Mitsuko smiled reassuringly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “If you can’t turn homicidal on your teacher at least once, are you really a Kunugiagoka student?”

“Uh…what?” Sugaya looked confused.

“Kayano,” Nagisa stepped forward and smiled. “You know when you gave me those hairdos, you helped me be less self-conscious about how long my hair is.”

Mitsuko’s stomach tightened, straightening up as Nagisa talked to Kayano warmly.

Her gaze shifted back to Koro-sensei, edging towards him while Nagisa spoke. “Koro-sensei?” she murmured. “Are you…okay?”

Koro-sensei coughed and looked up at her. “Oh, yes, not to worry.” He tried to stand up. “I’ll be right as r-rain—“

He started couching softly again, trying to smother it with his tie.

Mitsuko watched and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Take it easy.” She smiled down at him, earning a curious look in response. “You need to get your strength up if you’re going to give us the dirt on your past.”

Koro-sensei grew silent.

“Koro-sensei,” Isogai was speaking. “Kayano sure didn’t spare any effort in trying to kill you.” The rest of the class turned to him. “This was an assassination that took a lot more than your run-of-the-mill courage and determination.”

Mitsuko drew away when she saw Rio frown at the hand on Koro-sensei’s shoulder.

“So there’s some connection between…this assassination, your past, Ms Yukimura, and us too, but what?” Isogai continued as Mitsuko walked over to Sugaya’s side. “Please tell us. No matter how bad your past is, as long as it’s the truth we can accept it.”

Mitsuko looked down grimly as Koro-sensei remained quiet for a long time.

All of them stood in silence as the wind whipped against the grass and sent a chill through each one of them.

Then Koro-sensei took a deep breath and lifted his gaze to look at them, standing weakly to his feet.

“Very well…” he said, addressing them all.

So he told them everything, and by the end of it, she wished she’d never found out.

* * *

Dad looked up from his book when she silently opened the car door and got into the passenger seat.

“I assume everything has been handled?” he asked her.

Mitsuko kept her gaze low, not lifting her head as she stared at her hands in her lap.

From the corner of her eye, she saw dad lower his book. “Mitsuko?”

She swallowed a painful lump in her throat, as her eyes started to sting. “…Everything’s fine. Kayano’s fine. The tentacles are gone now.” Her voice was quiet and rigid, feeling a sob threaten to come out. “…Can we go home, please?”

He remained silent, staring at her as the seconds ticked by.

“…Of course,” dad replied evenly, closing the book. “We will need to take a quick trip to the store, though, your mother already called twice asking what was taking so long.”

Mitsuko hummed, feeling numb as she slipped her seatbelt back on.

Dad put his seatbelt on and then started the car. “There should be a store close to here.”

She felt her hands shake when she remembering everything Koro-sensei had hinted at in their session, as everything clicked into place of the story he’d told.

Fundamentally it all still came down to one clear fact; Koro-sensei had to die.

_Nothing changed about their mission, everything was still…_

Mitsuko swallowed back some vomit when she imagined Ms Yukimura laying down in the rubble of a destroyed lab, imagining Koro-sensei having to hold her while she bled out and…

She quickly rubbed her eyes when her vision started to blow up, the painful feeling back in her throat.

Dad pulled up in front of a small convenience store. “I’ll go grab the necessities,” he told her, before undoing his seatbelt and getting out of the car, leaving her alone.

Once the door shut, she felt the tears give way and slide down her cheeks.

“Damn it…” She mumbled, clenching her hands tight. “Stupid…octopus.”

They had to kill him or everyone would die, there was no running away from that. He had to die.

They all already knew that, but now…now she wasn’t sure she actually wanted to.

She wiped her face with her sleeve to get rid of the tears, trying to dry her eyes.

_Why am I even crying about it!?_

The stupid octopus was…it wasn’t like he was even a good person; he was a killer with a bigger kill count than Bitch-sensei.

She tensed when she saw her dad leaving the store, and hastily wiped her eyes harder to get rid of the tears.

Dad entered the car and closed the door, resting the plastic bag on his lap.

Mitsuko swallowed and turned her face towards the window as she rubbed her cheeks.

There was some rustling when her dad took something out of the bag. “Here.”

She nearly jumped when a freezing tub of strawberry ice cream was placed on her lap. “Huh?”

Dad placed the bag on the backseat, ignoring her reaction as he started the car.

Mitsuko frowned, examining the small round tub, it was the organic brand which was one of her favourites, which just seemed to confuse her more because how the hell did her dad know her favourite ice-cream?

She glanced at her dad questionably as he got the car ready and reversed out of the parking space.

“…Um, thank you,” she said quietly.

Dad just hummed, keeping his gaze on the road.

Mitsuko looked down and sighed, calming down as held the cold tub against her stomach and finding a strange comfort in the coldness after spending nearly hour avoiding the flames from Kayano’s rampage. 


	55. You're the perfect brother

Mitsuko sunk her face deeper into the pillow as the sun creeped out from a crack in her curtain.

The winter break was here, they were meant to be plotting an assassination…

She closed her eyes tight, bringing her knees up to her chin under the covers.

There was a knock at the door. “Mitsuko?” It was mom. “Can I come in?”

Mitsuko grimaced, lifting her head up from the covers. “…Yeah.”

Mom came in a few seconds later, frowning when she saw her. ”Sweetie, it nearly eleven,” she said, walking over to the bed. “You can’t sleep all day.”

“I’m not…” she mumbled into her cover as her mom sat down.

“Are you sick?” Mom touched her forehead briefly. “It’s not like you to sleep in.”

“I’m fine.” Mitsuko quickly sat up, resting her back against the headboard. “It’s winter break, mom. I’m allowed to take it easy.”

Mom’s frown deepened. “Of course. It’s just not like you, that’s all.” She looked at her questionably. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” she replied, pushing away the covers to get out of bed. “I just wanna relax, that’s all.”

“…I see.” Mom stood up, looking unconvinced. “Well, you can’t spend the whole day cooped up in your room.” She walked to the window to open the curtains. “I’ve already told Gakushuu he isn’t to study until he’s helped me decorate the Christmas tree—you’re welcome to join.”

Mitsuko scratched her side and shrugged. “Think I’ll pass…”

“Well, you need to do something,” mom insisted, sighing. “If you don’t have any plans for the day then you can help decorate,” she told her sternly before heading to the door. “But you can’t stay in bed all day…” Something sad flashed across her face as her hand rested on the door. “It’s not healthy…”

Mitsuko grimaced, watching her mom leave. “Fine…” She picked her phone off the desk and looked through her contacts until she came to Bitch-sensei’s name. “Not like I have anything better to do anyway…”

* * *

Bitch-sensei was glaring at the neat rows of ties in the store while Mitsuko sighed and leaned against a pillar.

The store was crowded with the festive shoppers trying to get last minutes gifts since there were only three days left until Christmas day. So, of course, Bitch-sensei chose now to panic-buy and get Mr Karasuma a gift after what she imagined was weeks of not making up her mind.

Mitsuko sighed and stretched, tempted to remove her coat since the heat from the store was starting to get too much. She groaned and narrowed her eyes at her teacher’s grey fur coat; how could the woman stand to wear that inside for so long?!

She hadn’t expected them to spend twenty minutes staring at a bunch of ties!

“Will you just pick one already?” Mitsuko said irritably.

Bitch-sensei looked over her shoulder and glared. “Shut up! You’re meant to be helping!”

“I am.” She pushed herself off the pillar. “If we stay here any longer we’ll overheat and die.”

Bitch-sensei scoffed, shaking her head. “I’m early done.” She picked up a pale silk tie which was tinted a metallic blue. “…Do you think he’d like this?”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow when the teacher/assassin’s voice shifted to something shyer and unsure. “Ugh.” She rolled her eyes and stepped closer, looking at the tie she was holding up. “…It would suit him. He looked nice in blue before.”

“True…” Bitch-sensei frowned, rubbing her chin as she stared at the tie. “He might like it…”She hummed and looked like she was thinking it over for longer. “Okay, then!”

“Finally!” she exclaimed, shaking her head.

“Shut up!” Bitch-sensei blushed. “Lie you’re any better.” She crossed her arms and scowled. “You take just as long.”

“No, I don’t.” Mitsuko huffed. “Now can we go now?”

“Yes!” Bitch-sensei placed the tie in her basket. “Unless you’re buying something for your dad?”

“Pfft, like he’d wear it,” Mitsuko replied, shrugging. “If you hadn’t noticed he basically wears the same thing every day.” She shifted on the spot. “He even has like fifty identical suits in his wardrobe!”

Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s just a disaster.” She shrugged. “Well, it was just a thought.”

Mitsuko hummed, eyeing the ties warily, fidgeting.

Her thoughts drifted to the ice-cream tub being tossed her way when he’d seen her upset.

“…He won’t wear anything I buy for him,” she muttered, reaching out to grab a navy blue tie. “I once got him a ‘Best Dad’ mug when I was eight and he just tossed it in the trash…”

Her nails dug into the silk material of the tie as she stared at it for a while.

“Will you hurry up!?” Bitch-sensei snapped, making her jump. “Jesus Christ. And you call me slow!”

“Fuck you!” Mitsuko yelled at her. “You damn bitch!”

“Watch your mouth, you little shit!” Bitch-sensei pointed at her. “I’m still your teacher, ungrateful brat!”

Some customers shied away from their yelling as the manager of the store started to look annoyed.

* * *

“Hey, Gakushuu!” Mitsuko walked in without knocking, carrying a bag of presents ad wrapping paper. “Help me wrap presents.”

Gakushuu slammed his fist on the desk and glared at her. “How many times have I said—?“

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She shut the door behind her and dumped the wrapping paper and gifts on his bed. “Just help me.”

Her brother scowled at her from the desk. “Why do you always leave it last minute?” He grabbed his blue jumper from the back of his chair and slipped it over his t-shirt when he walked over. “I had your gift wrapped weeks ago.”

“Aw, but where’s the Christmas excitement, Gaku-nii!” She smiled teasingly, rolling out the paper. “Wrapping gifts just before Christmas is way more fun because then you know you’ll get to watch them open it the next day.”

He rolled his eyes and sat opposite her on the bed, opening the bag of gifts. “Just how much stuff did you get mom?” He took out a selection of fancy soap, and then some chocolates. “She’ll probably end up returning most of—”

She threw the cella tape at him. “No, she won’t!”

“Ow!” Gakushuu rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, she will.” He tossed the box of soap at her, earning a pillow in the face. “Hey!”

“Just shut up and help!” she snapped, starting to wrap the box of soaps first. “Cut off some tape for me, will you?”

“Fine.” He huffed and used the spare scissors to cut a strip off before passing it to her.

“Thanks.” She secured one edge of the gift. “I don’t know why you’re complaining, you told me to get a gift we can say it’s from the both of us.”

“Yeah, but I said just to get one! Not a dozen.” Gakushuu rustled around in the bag, taking out some earrings, some gloves, and some bracelets. “She already has all of this stuff!”

“No! She doesn’t have the exact same stuff,” Mitsuko replied defensively as he passed her another piece of tape.

He sighed, shaking his head, and then frown when he picked up the tie. “Uh, are you seriously making me wrap my own gift?” His brow arched. “That’s just cruel.”

“It’s not for you!” She snatched the gift from his hand. “It’s dad’s.”

“Why would you get him a gift?” Gakushuu tensed, narrowing his eyes. “It’s not like he’s even going to wear it.”

Mitsuko frowned. “…He might.” She shrugged, keeping her gaze low as she wrapped up mom’s gift. “Things are different now…”

Her brother stared at her for a moment, frowning. “…Just be careful.”

She stiffened, pausing from sealing the last corner with tape. “Careful of what?”

His expression grew closed off. “Of letting him manipulate you into lowering your guard.”

Her hands smoothed over the shiny paper around the gift. “I am being careful…” she replied, placing the finished present to the side before picking up their dad’s gift. “But he is changing…” she said, cutting some paper loose from the roll. “He’s still controlling but he’s trying.”

“Is he now?” Gakushuu said sceptical, helping her wrap mom’s earrings.

Mitsuko grimaced, biting off some cella tape. “Look, I was sceptical too,” she mumbled, sticking the tape down to secure the paper. “But he is listening. He wasn’t even angry when I told him I wanted to study PR and Events…” She sighed. “Granted, he’s still trying to convince me to do Marketing and he keeps talking about taking me on university tours so I can see why it’s such a good career path, but…” She shrugged. “There’s _some_ improvement.”

Her brother made a doubtful noise, watching her warily. “Just don’t let him manipulate you again.” His hand absently touched his healed cheek where the only evidence remaining was a thin scab. “Don’t forget everything he did.”

She pressed her hands on the gift, feeling something twist in her stomach when her throat tickled. “...I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to.” Her gaze lifted to meet her brother’s, smiling feebly. “Which is why we’re probably the only ones who can keep him in line.” She placed the gift to the side. “So we can make sure he doesn’t go back to how he used to be.”

“I suppose…”Gakushuu stared at her for a while, humming softly as his hand dropped from his face. “Though I think suing him for millions and damaging his reputation will help as well.”

Her face brightened instantly. “Oh, definitely!”

The corner of his lips curved into a smile, helping her wrap another of mom’s gifts. “My lawyer thinks we have a good case, though he says our age will work against us.”

Mitsuko snorted, rolling her eyes. “He does know who he’s talking to right?”

“My thoughts exactly.” He smiled sharply. “And since you seem to be dad’s new favourite, we could use that to our advantage.” He had a glint in his eye. “The potential for emotional manipulation is almost too good to pass up.”

She chuckled, taking out some labels for the gifts. “He did buy me all the Christmas gifts I asked for this year, even the stupidly expensive ones.”

“He has been more generous with money lately,” he commented, rubbing his chin. “It’s a classic desperate attempt to buy affection to make up for his guilt.”

She smirked. “Him trying to buy our affection could really work in our favour here.”

“Yes, I agree.” Gakushuu nodded. “Though we have to be careful not to overstep, otherwise he’ll catch on.”

“Right!” Mitsuko replied, smiling brightly, signing dad’s gift tag. “Do you want to write on dad’s tag?”

Her brother’s brow furrowed faintly, staring at the gift. “…I suppose there’s no harm in giving him false hope.” He took the present and scribbled something on the label. “There.” He smiled slyly. “That should suffice.”

She raised an eyebrow and took the gift back, bursting out laughing when she saw he’s crossed out _‘to dad’_ and had put ‘ _to sperm donor’_ instead, which was followed by ‘ _From Mitsuko & Gakushuu’_.

* * *

The last time she could remember them sitting in front of the Christmas tree in their pyjamas was when she was six and maybe seven? It was hard to remember sometimes…

Either way, there was no way she was going to start doing it now, not when everyone else would be fully dressed and presentable, and besides they were scheduled to open presents at 09:00 precisely so there was no point wasting time and not getting dressed.

So Mitsuko brushed her hair and then slipped on a woollen dress to keep her warm. “Hm.” She smiled warmly when she slipped on the long green Elf socks Rio had bought her. “Perfect!”

When she went downstairs mom was already sitting in an armchair drinking coffee next to the tree, and dad was—

Mitsuko did a doubletake when she saw what he was wearing from his comfy spot on the sofa. “Is that a sweater?!”

_Dad wasn’t wearing a suit!_

She nearly died from the shock when she saw he was just wearing a brown jumper over a blue shirt and looked…holy shit, he looks so normal!

Mitsuko blinked quickly, rubbing her eyes as she gawked. “You’re…”

Dad raised an eyebrow, looking up from his newspaper. “Yes, Mitsuko?”

“Merry Christmas!” Mom said brightly when she saw her.

“Uh…yeah.” Mitsuko frowned and walked over to them. “Merry Christmas…”

_This was too weird…_

Then Gakushuu walked in. “Morning—Argh?!” He reeled back, pressing his back against the wall as he gawked at their dad. “Who the hell are you?!”

“I know right!” Mitsuko agreed, gesturing at their dad. “Just look at him!”

The sweater had a faint reindeer pattern on it.

_God damn reindeers._

“Uh…” Mom looked confused.

Dad sighed in exasperation, folding away his paper. “Shall we open presents?”

Both Mitsuko and Gakushuu exchanged looks before staring back at their parents.

“Fine.” She shrugged, walking over the tree to find hers and Gakushuu’s.

“Should I put music on?” mom suggested.

They all stared at her blankly.

Mom blushed. “What? It could be nice.”

They continued to stare at her blankly.

Then mom scowled. “Well, I’m putting it on anyway!” She huffed and walked over to the record player. “We must have a Christmas vinyl in here somewhere…” She searched through the neatly arranged records.

“We have jazz,” Gakushuu remarked dryly as he sat down to open the gift Mitsuko got him. “That’s lively isn’t it?”

“Oh! Can we put on Beethoven?” Mitsuko suggested.

“No, you always make us put his stuff on.” Her brother looked annoyed as he opened the gift. “Pick Mozart at least.”

“We’re not putting on the classics,” mom replied impatiently as she tried to search. “It’s Christmas!”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and finished unwrapping the gift. “Huh?” He looked confused when he saw the CD. “What’s this?”

Mitsuko grinned wickedly. “Your recording from the festival.”

He tensed. “What?”

Mom looked over her shoulder curiously. “What recording?”

“Nothing!” Gakushuu quickly hid the CD behind his back. “And I think we have a Christmas Vinyl at the very back of the shelf.”

“Really?” Mom smiled and bent down to search in the deeper part of the record player shelf.

Mitsuko chuckled, earning a glare from her brother. “Aw! Is poor Gaku-nii embarrassed?”

“Shut up.” He scrunched the wrapping paper into a ball and threw it at her.

“Oh, but think of how many memories you have now!” Mitsuko’s grin widened, laughing harder at his expression. “I did get you something else as well.” She handed him a second gift.“I swear you’ll like this one—it’s also your birthday gift so don’t expect much for the big day.”

He frowned at the gift for a moment, before unwrapping it carefully. Mitsuko’s smile wavered, fidgeting as she watched for his reaction. When he removed the packaging inside was the silver watch she’d got him. “Oh…”

“Look on the back!” She grinned, resting her elbow on his shoulder. “I got it engraved see!”

He looked unsure and turned the watch over where on the back in small Kanji etched into the metal it said,

‘To Gaku-nii, I may not be the perfect sister, but to me you’re the perfect brother – Love Mitsuko.’

“Pretty cool, right?” She grinned, while he stared at the watch. “That way you always have something to remind you of me!”

“Oh!” Mom smiled when she saw the watch. “That’s wonderful, Mitsuko.”

“Yes…” Dad was staring at them with a thoughtful look.

Gakushuu was quiet, staring at the watch as his hand curled around it.

“Uh…Gakushuu?” She frowned, peering at him. “Are you okay?” A rush of panic threatened to course through her. “You do like it, right?”

He held the watch tight and cleared his throat. “Obviously.” His voice sounded weird and he kept blinking quickly, turning his head away from her. “It’s a nice watch…”

Mitsuko’s smile grew. “I am a pretty amazing sister, right?”

He scoffed, shaking his head as he slipped the watch onto his wrist and clicked it into place. “Don’t inflate your ego too much—it’s not like it’s made of gold.”

She rolled her eyes and went to grab more presents while mom kept trying to find a Christmas record which wasn’t there.

“Is this mine?” She picked up a small neatly wrapped box and read the label. “It’s from you.”

He stopped staring at the watch and looked over. “Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s from me.”

She grinned and tore the wrapping paper off, revealing a box full to the brim with some kind of knitting and crocheting craft kit. “Aw!” Her smile widened, taking out the selection of expensive needles. “This is so sweet!”

Gakushuu smiled faintly. “Well, you might as well have the correct equipment if you’re serious about making it a real hobby.”

Mitsuko’s smile grew warm, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.”

“Hey be careful!” he complained when the needle she was holding nearly stabbed him.

She laughed and released him, placing the needles back in the box of supplies. Her gaze shifted back to the tree, searching for more presents until she spotted a familiar gift she’d wrapped.

“Ah! Here’s dad’s.” Mitsuko smirked and proudly presented it to their father. “Merry Christmas!”

Dad raised an eyebrow and then eyed the gift suspiciously. “Hm.” He accepted the present, causing his children to smirk when he looked at the label. “Ah…yes…” He looked unimpressed when he saw what was written. “How very mature of you both.”

Mitsuko smiled sweetly. “Aw! But it’s funny.”

He sighed and shook his head, opening the gift. “Well, let’s see what it is then.” He unwrapped it carefully while his children sat on the floor and waited for his reaction. “…Oh.” Dad examined the tie with interest. “This is…very good material.”

Mitsuko’s smile grew relieved. “Well, yeah, I knew you wouldn’t like just any cheap junk.”

Dad nodded, looking at them both with a hard decipher expression. “Well…thank you, children.”

Gakushuu frowned, shrugging as he moved to get more presents. “I didn’t choose it.”

“I found it!!” Mom suddenly yelled, making them jump. “Look!” Her light hair was covered in dust. “It’s just an instrumental, but it should be nice.” She blew some dust away and stuck the record on, filling the room with a faint weird Christmas jingle. “There, much better!”

Mitsuko wasn’t sure ‘ _better’_ was the right word since the noise was scratchy and skipped in places.

“What’s this?” Gakushuu removed a large square present from the tree and frowned when it made a weird noise when he shook it, and it sounded like there were small pieces inside.

“That’s from your father,” mom said, forcing a smile when she sat back down.

Mitsuko exchanged an unsure look with her brother, while their dad just sipped his coffee and watched them.

Cautiously, Gakushuu opened the present, and frowned when the box was shown to be a Lego construction kit…

_What the hell?_

Mitsuko and Gakushuu just stared in silence at the box. “Uh…What’s that?!” She moved next to her brother to read the label. “ _Optimus Prime_ Transformer figurine,” she read, raising an eyebrow. “Isn’t that for kids…?”

“No.” Dad stood up and smiled apprehensively at his son who was staring numbly at the box. “Adults regularly construct all sorts of models, it’s very complex actually.”

“Right…” Mitsuko didn’t really get it, but her confusion turned to concern when she looked at her brother who was gripping the box very tightly.

Dad got off the sofa and stepped towards them, bending down so he was nearer her brother’s level. “I know this was on your Christmas list for at least two years,” he said, smiling. “Granted you were eight when you asked for it, but better late than never, is how the saying goes.”

Gakushuu didn’t seem to understand. “W-why would…?”

“I thought it would be nice if we built it together like we used to.” Dad’s smile wavered briefly, but it stayed stuck, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It would be nice, don’t you think…” He hesitated again, before ruffling his hair. “…Gakushuu?”

Her brother’s eyes widened, darting back and forth between their dad and mom like they were strangers, making Mitsuko draw closer in worry.

“What is…?” He looked down at the box, and then their parents. “Just…” Then to their alarm, he suddenly pushed the box away and scrambled to his feet. “Just stop!” he yelled at them. “Stop doing this!”

Dad frowned, standing up. “Doing what?”

“T-this!” He pointed at him accusingly. “It’s…”

Mitsuko quickly got to her feet. “Gakushuu…”

Mom looked worried and stood up. “Sweetie, what are you talking about?”

For once her brother was scrambling and stammering to speak. “Stop trying to—you’re not good parents!”

Mitsuko watched her parents both freeze up and stare at him.

“You’re not good parents,” Gakushuu went on, shaking. “And you come in with…with all of this!” He gestured to the record player and the presents. “And you think that it’ll…” He clenched his hands into fists. “ _I_ raised Mitsuko!” He pointed at himself. “ _I_ taught her how to cook, do laundry, ride a bike, tie her shoelaces— _I_ did that—and _I’m_ the one looked after her when she was sick. I protected her.”

Mitsuko felt her chest tighten when the shock faded and felt a pang of overwhelming guilt weigh down on her.

“Gakushuu, I know that…” Mom looked like she’d cry. “And I’m so thankful for—“

“I don’t want your thanks,” He gritted his teeth, baring them in a snarl. “I’ve always done what was expected of me. _Always_.” His eyes looked like they were watering. “Because I was the only one who actually cared enough about this family while the two of you were busy either trying to kill yourselves and not giving a shit about your own kids!”

Both their parents were completely silent.

Gakushuu lowered his glare to the floor when no one said anything, his fists shaking in pent up anger. Then without saying another word, he turned around and left the room, his footsteps carrying across the house until there was a sharp slam from his bedroom door. 


	56. Why wasn't it good enough?

Mitsuko flinched when she heard the door slam from upstairs, as the crappy and distorted Christmas jungle still played in the background.

“…I told you not to buy it,” mom whispered harshly.

She looked over her shoulder at her parents like she was just remembering they were there.

“It was a kind gesture,” dad said quietly, narrowing his eyes at her. “I’m trying my best.”

“And failing.” Mom’s voice rose. “I told you not to push him. He’s in a delicate mindset, you can’t force—“

Mitsuko gritted her teeth as she watched them. “Mom, dad, now isn’t—“

“I’m not trying to force anything,” dad replied sharply to mom. “I’m being honest about the situation. I’ve tried to apologise to him, which is more than—“

“I am doing whatever I can to give him the love and attention he deserves!” she snapped.

“You’re _smothering_ him.”

“I’m not the reason his face is still healing—“

“WILL YOU SHUT UP!?” Mitsuko screamed at them.

Mom and dad both stiffened, the glares and coldness fading from their faces when they looked over at her.

Mitsuko balled her hands into fists. “Just shut for once! What is wrong with you?!” She exclaimed in outrage. “Stop making this about you. Stop using us as an excuse to fight just because you can’t own up to your own shitty problems.”

Mom winced, looking down. “We weren’t—“

“I don’t care.” Mitsuko shook her head. “Just shut up.” Her gaze shifted to where her brother had disappeared out of the room. “I’m going to go talk to him, so just…just leave us alone and go fight somewhere where we don’t have to hear it.”

Her parents stayed silent, watching her as she left the room to go find her brother.

* * *

Mitsuko fidgeted outside of her brother’s bedroom door until she apprehensively knocked on the door.

“Gaku-nii?” She called quietly. “Can I come in, please?”

There was a long pause of just silence when he didn’t reply straight away.

“…Fine.” The reply was mumbled and hard to hear at first.

She held back a sighed and entered the room, frowning when she saw all the curtains were drawn, blocking out most of the sun so the room was dim.

She looked to the right where his bed was and felt her heartache when she saw him curled up on the bed with his face buried in a pillow.

“Gaku-nii…” She swallowed a lump in her throat, closing the door behind her and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to him.

He kept his face hidden in the pillow and turned away from her so he was facing the wall.

Mitsuko felt her guilt grow worse, staring at her hands on her lap. “I’m sorry…”

He shifted slightly behind her. “…Why?” His voice was still quiet but she could tell he’d lifted his face out of the pillow. “You didn’t do anything…”

“Yes, I did,” she replied quietly. “I made things harder for you because you had to look after me, and I didn’t pay enough attention to how you were feeling.” She blinked back tears. “I was happy that mom and dad were paying attention to me again and being nice that I didn’t think about how upset that would make you.”

Her guilt worsened when she remembered how happy it made her that dad was being nice and treating her like she was his favourite, and how she’d enjoyed the fact mom was spending time with her and making her lunches and…

“I’m being selfish,” she mumbled, picking at her nails when she started to feel sick. “I made you feel like I didn’t appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

“Don’t be stupid.” Her brother sighed, uncurling himself as he sat up in the bed and pressed his back against the headboard. “I’m not angry because of that—I want you to be happy.” She frowned and turned around; his expression was closed off but she could tell, even in the dim light, that he’d been crying. “I just…” He grimaced, bringing his knees up to his chin. “I just can’t stand it how they’re trying to make us play _Happy Families_. It’s suffocating.”

“…They’re just trying to fix things quickly before…” Mitsuko tried to phrase it right so it wouldn’t be suspicious. “Before the divorce goes through and we all have to separate.” She sighed grimly. “They’re trying to make amends before time runs out…”

Gakushuu scowled, looking down. “Well, maybe I don’t want things magically fixed,” he said coldly. “They might be my parents but they can’t force me to forgive them, and they can’t force me to be happy about it.”

“I know…” She sighed, manoeuvring to sit next to him by the headboard. “I’m sorry they made you uncomfortable, and I’m sorry I keep defending them…I just want everyone to be happy. I want _you_ to be happy.”

“…I am happy,” he replied quietly, earning an unsure look from her. “Sometimes…” He sighed deeply. “I’m happy when I’m with you, Ren, and the others.”

The two of them sat in silence for a moment as Mitsuko contemplated more on what he’d shouted at our parents. She looked at her brother cautiously, he was never easy to comfort, and the few times she'd seen him really distraught he'd been unresponsive.

Her thoughts drifted back to when she'd had to pick up the pieces when Kevin and the other exchange students had been beaten to a bruised and bloody mess and the breakdown which had followed soon after. He'd picked himself back up after that and brushed it off a few days later like it was just a bad memory, and even after mentioning it on their trip, he was still acting like it was just a minor inconvenience. 

“…You don’t have to always hold things in,” she told him softly. “I know you said you’re not mad about having to take care of me…but it’s okay if you’re resentful about it.” She half-shrugged. “It wouldn’t have been fun looking after me all the time, and getting lectured by dad when I did stuff wrong or having to take the blame for it.”

He glanced at her briefly, sighing. “I don’t regret having to always be responsible for you growing up,” he told her earnestly. “You’re my little sister, it’s my responsibility to take care of you. It’s expected of me as the oldest and to lead by example…” His voice was dull and tired like he was just reciting something he’d been telling himself for years. “It helped me learn to be a good leader.”

“…But?” She prodded, knowing there was more to it.

He hesitated, tensing as his shoulders hunched up. “…It would be nice if our parents got their heads out of their asses and appreciated what I did.” He dug his nails into his knees. “ _I_ looked after this family when things got bad." His voice wavered as he drew more into himself. "I never complained or cried about it.”

"And you did a great job," she told him warmly. 

He narrowed his eyes. “I always did what they asked and more, I completed _every_ goal, accepted _every_ lecture and..." His voice choked up in the middle. “When mom told me to keep you out of the way when she was having her bad days, _I did_. When dad told me to get better grades, _I did_.” His shoulders shook again as he stared at his feet. "But it wasn't good enough." He was blinking quickly like his eyes were stinging. "W-why wasn't it good enough...?"

Mitsuko wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. "It's okay..."

He rubbed his eyes quickly when a stray tear ran down his cheek before he realised. "They never acknowledged any of it. They never…”

“No, they didn’t, and they should have.” She rested her head on top of his as he grabbed onto her arm and clung on, his face buried in her shoulder. “You’re a good brother and a good son. I’m proud of you and I always have been,” she told him earnestly. “You never back down from a challenge and you don’t give up, and I wouldn’t be as strong as I am now if I didn’t have you to teach me that.”

He clung onto her tighter. “…Honestly, I’m surprised you turned out as half-decent as you did—I don’t know where all your morality came from.”

She let out a broken laugh. “Yeah, well, I’m surprised you didn’t grow up to be a full-fledged sociopath, to be honest.”

“Who says I’m not?” he muttered. “I could have a whole stack of bodies buried in the garden and you’d never know.”

Another laugh came out. “I guess that’s true.”

He chuckled softly, relaxing his shoulders., fiddling with the watch on his wrist. “…Do you really think I’m the perfect brother?”

“Well…you can be a real asshole sometimes,” she commented, causing him to smirk. “But yeah, I think you’re amazing. I always tell everyone I’m proud to be your sister, and it’s true.”

“…I’m proud you’re my sister,” he replied quietly, making her heart fill with warmth. “You’re the one I’ve always trusted…” He lifted his head from her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her properly in a secure embrace. “I’m sorry for when I’d lose my temper and snap at you, or when I was controlling…” He took a deep breath. “You were right, I was acting like the Principal, and I didn’t treat you with respect.”

She smiled warmly, resting her chin on his shoulder. “It’s okay.” She patted him on the back. “I know I can be annoying sometimes, and I know you just want to protect me.”

He let her go and smiled, looking relieved. “Thanks…”

Mitsuko placed a hand on his shoulder. “We can go downstairs if you want?” she said. “But you don’t have to, and you don’t have to talk to mom or dad until you’re ready.” She smiled brightly. “I’ll even watch a dumb action movie with you if you want?”

“…There’s this superhero movie Araki keeps nagging for me to watch,” he replied hesitantly. “We could watch that for a few hours.”

“Sounds great.” She got off the bed and grabbed his laptop off the desk. “I can’t make any promises that I won’t complain about the plot though.” She sat back down next to him. “And if the acting is terrible, I’m gonna make fun of it.”

He smirked, taking the laptop from her to power it on. “Very well, but you still have to watch it all the way through nevertheless—even the post-credit scene.”

She rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”


	57. You're very kind

Mitsuko hummed as the final credits disappeared from the laptop screen. “Okay…I guess that movie wasn’t that bad.”

Her brother arched an eyebrow. “Just admit you liked it.”

“Pfft, the acting wasn’t that great,” she commented.

“Oh, and the ones in those crappy romance movies is better?” he challenged.

“I don’t even like those movies that much,” Mitsuko argued, rolling her eyes as she glanced at the time. “Anyway, I’m just gonna go check on our parents.” She smiled at him warmly. “It’s okay if you wanna eat it up here by the way.”

Gakushuu grimaced, his brow furrowing. “I’m not a coward, I can’t just hide from them forever.”

“I know but it’s okay to want space,” she replied, shrugging. “Let me check how they are. That way if they’re still being idiots, we can just order a takeaway and watch more movies.”

He frowned, picking at a dirt stain on the side of the laptop. “Alright then…”

Mitsuko smiled at him and slipped off the bed. “If I’m not back in an hour then assume I’ve murdered them and we’ll have to go on the run.”

Her brother smirked. “I already have a contingency plan drawn up just in case.”

She laughed as she left the room, closing the door behind her when she stepped onto the hallway.

Mitsuko took a deep breath before she headed downstairs to where she assumed her parents still where since she could smell the faint traces of cooking coming from the kitchen.

When she walked into the kitchen her dad was cutting up to vegetables while a large pot was boiling and something was cooking in the oven.

“…Hey,” she greeted, leaning against the archway of the kitchen. “Where’s mom?”

“In the garden smoking,” dad replied lightly as he scraped some veg off the chopping board and into the pot. “How is your brother?”

Mitsuko shrugged. “Better…” she replied, walking towards the backdoor and slipped her feet into a pair of sandals. “I don’t think he’s up for some quality time Lego building though.”

Dad grimaced, keeping his gaze focussed on the pot as he stirred in the ingredient. “I didn’t think as much either.”

She sighed, staring at him a while longer until she opened the door and stepped outside.

The thick smell of tobacco hit her nostrils, nearly making her cough. “Ugh…” She looked to the left where her mom was leaning against the wall, wrapped up in a heavy scarf and coat as she smoked. “Mom?”

Mom tensed when she saw her, and quickly looked down. “Mitsuko…”

She sighed and shut the door behind her, wandering down the steps. “So, I gather you and dad didn’t have an explosive argument?”

Mom’s expression was tight, keeping her gaze low. “I’m sorry you had to see that earlier…”

Mitsuko shrugged, leaning against the wall next to her mom. “I’ve seen worse.” She looked up at the sky as the sun overcast by the grey cloud. “You and dad definitely didn’t hold back when we were younger. That wine stain took weeks to paint over.”

Her mom winced, taking a long drag on her cigarette as she held the scarf tighter around herself. “Yes, I remember…” The smoke filtered out from her mouth slowly before rising. “I’m sorry you had to see that too.” She sighed and rested her head against the wall as she looked up. “This isn’t how I imagined things would turn out with your father, you and your brother…”

Mitsuko sighed, staring at her socks when the freezing temperature chilled her toes through the open sandals. “I know…and I know you didn’t have things easy either so I get that you don’t like remembering the past but…” Her brow furrowed. “You can’t just bury it, if we’re going to move on we have to actually talk about it properly.”

Mom fiddled with her cigarette for a while. “…I can understand that,” she said quietly. “It’s just difficult.” She let out a deep breath. “I’ve never really talked to anyone about it besides your father, and even then he said he didn’t like me dwelling on things like that.” She stared at the ground. “He’d say there was no point talking about it when it couldn’t be changed.”

“Yeah, well dad isn’t exactly the shining example of good mental health,” Mitsuko replied grimly.

“No, he isn’t,” she murmured faintly. “I felt ashamed talking about it since he didn’t like it so I just…I guess I decided it was better to keep those types of feelings to myself.”

Mitsuko stayed quiet for a moment, trying to think of what the right thing to say. “Have you ever thought about…maybe…a therapist? Or a life coach or something?”

Mom stiffened, nearly snapping the cigarette in half. “I’m not getting sent away again.”

“What? No!” Mitsuko quickly straightened up, looking at her mom in alarm. “I didn’t mean that.” She gripped her mom’s arm. “I just meant, like maybe someone to just talk to so…so we know you’re definitely okay.” She leaned closer, sighing. “They won’t let you take care of me and Gakushuu if they think you’ll…”

Mom’s expression looked pained. “If I relapse.” Her hand trembled faintly as she smoked. “That’s what I’m scared of.”

“But you can get help….preferably not the same doctors as before,” Mitsuko looked at her mom apprehensively. “There are support groups as well for lots of things, even…” She looked uncomfortable. “Even ones for parents coping with their child being gay and stuff…” She couldn’t meet her mom’s surprised gaze. “It could help you deal with a lot of stuff and get better—I’ll even go with you if it makes you comfortable.”

Mom’s brow furrowed, staring at her. “…You’d go with me?”

“Of course, you’re my mom,” she replied firmly. “I want you to stay healthy and safe. I just want us all to be happy.” Her gaze grew anxious. “But the only way we can start doing that is if you and dad have to be honest about the past and taking responsibility for it.”

Mom shifted on the stop, looking uncomfortable. “I know.” She sighed and flicked the cigarette to the ground. “You’re brother made that obvious.” She looked at her cautiously. “Is he still upset?”

“He’s calmed down now,” Mitsuko replied, rubbing her arms when the cold made her arms start to feel numb. “I can’t say he’s completely okay though.”

Mom nodded hesitantly. “Will he be coming downstairs?”

“Well, he didn’t seem eager, but he pretty much said he would.” She folded her arms. “It depends. Are you and dad going make it all about you again?”

“No.” Mom winced, lowering her gaze. “We won’t.”

Mitsuko hummed grimly. “Yeah, well, that’s good at least.”

* * *

Mitsuko kept a tight hold on her brother's hand as they walked into the dining room where mom and dad were silently laying out Christmas lunch. Both their parents froze when they saw the two of them in the archway.

Mom tensed, placing the plate of chicken on the table. “Oh…” She wrung her hands anxiously. “Will you two be joining us?”

Gakushuu scowled faintly. “I suppose so.”

Mom wrung her hands, looking down. “Well, that’s nice.” She grimaced and looked up, taking a hesitant step towards them. “Your father and I…we appreciate how…how willing you both are in…in giving us a chance to show how much we love you.”

Dad hummed, focusing too much on the arrangement of the cutlery. “Yes…we appreciate it.”

Their mom’s smile was strained, approaching them both. “No matter what happens with the divorce, nothing will change how much we both love you. You know that don’t you?”

Mitsuko exchanged a look with her brother. “Yeah, I guess,” she replied quietly, feeling uncomfortable.

The smile looked painful on mom’s face as she apprehensively reached out and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “You two are so…wonderful.” She cupped Gakushuu’s cheek while his gaze firmly stayed fixed on the floor, her thumb traced over the healing cut. “You’re more than we deserve…and I am _so_ proud of you both.” Her eyes watered when she looked at her son. “And I’m so lucky I have such a strong, brilliant, _good_ son w-who is always so responsible a-and good a-and…” She choked back a sob and pulled him into a tight hug. “I-I’m sorry!”

Gakushuu grimaced as his head was forced onto her shoulder since he was a good two inches taller than her. “It’s fine…”

“No, it’s not.” Mom was crying now, pulling away to grip his face so he couldn’t look away from her. “It’s not fine.” Her face scrunched up miserably. “I…I wasn’t the mother you needed or deserved, I-I wasn’t there to protect you or love you…” She stared at him earnestly. “So I’m trying. I’m trying to learn and be better because I want you to have a mom to proud of.”

Gakushuu shifted on the spot, glancing at Mitsuko who smiled encouragingly. “I know you’re trying…” He sighed and gently touched the hands cupping his face, pulling them away. “It’s just…a lot.”

Mom winced. “I…I’m sorry if I’ve smothered you…” She clasped her hands in front of her, looking away. “I just want to show how much I love you and how grateful I am to have you as my son.”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I gathered.” He frowned at their mom. “I don’t dislike it,” he said hesitantly. “Even the notes in my lunches…they aren’t…horrible.”

Mom’s eyes widened in surprise before a warm smile spread across her face. “You really like them!?”

Gakushuu grimaced. “I mean, they’re a thoughtful gesture, I guess…” His frown deepened. “And I’ll admit I…prefer how you are now than how you used to be…”

Mom gave a weak depreciating laugh, wiping away her tears. “So do I…” Then smiled and pinched and pulled his undamaged cheek. “And I can’t believe how much my strong little man has grown up! Even if you still have some baby fat in your face!”

“Ah!” He nearly fell over when she pulled his cheek. “Don’t damage the other side!”

Mitsuko smiled faintly when she looked at them, and then glanced at dad who was observing the scene silently with a closed-off expression. Her smile wavered when dad didn’t make a move to come closer to them.

Gakushuu scowled and rubbed his cheek when his mother released him. “Ugh.” He looked over at their dad and narrowed his eyes slightly. “So are we eating or what?”

“Yes, we can,” dad replied lightly, adjusting the cutlery again like he couldn’t decide if it was straight enough.

“Good.” Gakushuu looked at his mom. “Do you need any help with the food?”

Mom smiled warmly. “No. You can all sit down, everything’s done.”

“Well it all smells good,” Mitsuko said, walking over to her seat in front of all the platter of food. “You really did a good job, mom.”

“Well, your father finished off most of it,” mom replied apprehensively, glancing at their dad who was still quiet.

Her brother hummed and sat next to her. “It looks good, and I doubt we’ll be able to finish it all.”

Mom’s smile grew. “But that’s good! Then we can eat leftovers!”

“Ugh…” Gakushuu wrinkled his nose, making Mitsuko smile.

* * *

Mitsuko waited on the roof with the box of leftovers in her lap as she waited, starting to feel the chill of the winter temperatures numb her face. She checked the time, it was already 7:15pm, and he said he would be here at seven.

“Hurry up, damn it,” she muttered, burying her gloved hands under her arms to keep them warm. “What’s the use of Mach 20 if you’re late—AH!”

She nearly fell off the roof when a gush of wind signalled her teacher’s arrival.

“Careful.” Koro-sensei curled a tentacle near her to make sure she didn’t slip. “This isn’t a safe place to meet, Mitsuko. The roof is icey!”

She frowned, looking up. “Yeah, well Merry Christmas to you too.” She shrugged, staying seated as she held up the lunch box. “Here.”

He tilted his head curiously, sitting down next to her. “You got me a gift?” Then suddenly he started sobbing joyfully. “A student got me a gift! I have reached the peak of respect to be earned as a teacher!”

“Uh…” Mitsuko stared at him uneasily when he sobbed harder. “Don’t be weird about it.” She grimaced, looking away. “Seriously, keep making a big deal out of it and I’ll toss it over the roof.”

“AH! NO!” Koro-sensei panicked, waving his tentacles. “Don’t do that!”

She rolled her eyes and held it in front of him. “Just take it…”

He started salivating when he took a deep whiff of the box. “It smells divine!” He held the box lovingly. “I shall treasure each bite with the utmost appreciation!”

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. “It’s literally chicken and vegetables.”

“Ah, lovely.” He opened the lid and smelled the inside. “Truly delicious.” Then he chuckled, peering at her. “Did you happen to have any leftover dessert as well?”

“I’ll push you off this roof!” she snapped.

“No!” Koro-sensei held the box protectively against his chest. “Then the food will be wasted!”

She shook her head. “Yeah, well call it a peace offering for getting my dad to cut your salary this month.”

“Wait, he’s actually cutting it!” Koro-sensei looked horrified.

She shrugged. “Oh, yeah, I guess that means you won’t get holiday pay either.”

He cried silent tears. “Why are you so mean…?”

“Anyway, I hope you’re having a good Christmas regardless,” she said, frowning as she tried not to look at the crescent moon.

Koro-sensei chuckled faintly. “Well, there have been a few things keeping me busy,” he commented. “I even joined a mixer and made some more friends!”

“What?!” She looked at him in confusion.

He laughed, sighing contently. “It’s an interesting story, I’ll have to tell you sometime.”

Mitsuko grew uncomfortable. “That’s if you have time before you…”

Koro-sensei glanced down at her thoughtfully. “True.”

She grimaced, feeling her fingers grow numb. “How can you be so okay with it all?”

Her teacher was silent for a long while, staring at the lunchbox. “…Well, I’ve faced death so many times I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be afraid of it.” The laugh he gave was soft and hollow. “And with the number of lives I’ve ended…I think death has been more than earned as retribution.”

She shivered, staring up at him apprehensively. “…How many were…?”

“I didn’t care to keep count after a while,” Koro-sensei replied lightly, staring down at the front garden. “I lost touch with my humanity during those years, my entire focus was on myself. I didn’t care much for the past of the people I’d killed or if they truly deserved it.”

“…But you cared about your apprentice,” she said quietly, feeling her chest tighten.

“Yes.” Koro-sensei sighed. “As much as I tried to bury it and deny it. He was the first human being I cared about…at some point, I might have even seen him as a son.” He gave a broken laugh. “But I failed him. Not in just the path I led him down, but I failed to show him how much I cared…I made him feel like such things had to be earned.”

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, looking down at her lap. “Then I guess you and the Principal really are similar…”

“I wouldn’t put your father in the exact same category of monster as me,” Koro-sensei replied lightly. “While monstrous his actions were—there is a good man in there still, buried deep, but still there. The kind of man who loves his family and students.”

“…You’re a good man too,” she told him quietly.

Koro-sensei curled his tentacles, staring at the yellow limbs for a while. “I’m honoured that you would think as much, Mitsuko.” He patted her on the head. “You’re very kind.”

She blushed, scowling with embarrassment. “Yeah well…I’m just saying you’re not that bad for a notorious killer.”

He laughed. “Thank you.” He ate some of the chicken. “This really is delicious!”

Mitsuko smiled, rolling her eyes. “So what are your plans for the rest of the holiday.”

“Oh, I’m taking it easy.” Then his eyes suddenly welled with tears. “But I miss you all so much!”

She sighed in exasperation. “I thought you said you had friends now…”

“They can’t replace my students!” Koro-sensei cried. “Nothing can compare to your smiling faces and your creative but naive attempts at killing me!”

“They weren’t naive, jerkface!” she snapped.

“Oh, well, it won’t be long until the break is over.” Koro-sensei sighed contently, eating some more. “I am going to stop by Karma’s place to wish him a quick happy birthday and drop off a gift or two.”

Mitsuko looked up at him. “You got him a present?”

“Of course!” Koro-sensei replied, and then looked sheepish. “I’m not one to pick favourites of course, but I do think he needs a little extra attention around this time of year while his parents are away.”

“I sent him a card…” Her stomach twisted when she thought of Karma being alone for his birthday and Christmas. “I didn’t know his parents haven’t come back yet from their trip…”

Koro-sensei hummed faintly, nibbling on some of the chicken. “I understand they did make plans to return, but there were delays.”

“He never told anyone…” Mitsuko frowned, thinking of how guarded Karma could be. “…Idiot.” She scowled and whipped out her phone, trying to find his number. “Just who does he think he is?”

Koro-sensei looked at her curiously. “Are you calling him?”

“Well, duh!” Mitsuko exclaimed, shooting him a glare. “I can’t let him spend his birthday alone!”

* * *

Mitsuko was having a nice dream about Rio when a shrill scream woke her up in the morning.

Her eyes snapped open, looking at the clock, it was seven in the morning.

Who the hell was screaming at seven in the morning?!

She sat up and rubbed her eyes when she heard more noise coming from the hallway. “Damn it…” Mitsuko threw the covers on the floor and went to go investigate. “Seriously, what do I have to do to get to sleep in, in this family?”

She sighed and walked down the hallway until…

“HOW DID YOU GET IN MY HOUSE!?” Her brother was yelling.

Mitsuko groaned when she realised what all the fuss was probably about, and sure enough, when she turned the corner there it was.

Karma raised an eyebrow at her brother, standing near the bathroom door with a towel around his waist and a grey hand towel around his neck. “Hey, I’m a guest, try showing some hospitality, second-place.” He yawned and scratched his naked chest without a care in the world. “This is just bad hosting.”

Gakushuu was still in a t-shirt and sleeping shorts, with the towel under his arm indicating he’d been planning to use the shower. “Get out!” He pointed at the stairs. “ _Now_!”

“Calm down, Gakushuu.” Mitsuko rolled her eyes and walked over to them. “I invited him.”

Her brother looked like he’d blow a fuse. “WHY?!”

She shrugged, sharing an amused look with Karma. “It’s the holidays.”

“Yeah.” Karma grinned wickedly, baring his teeth. “Where’s that charitable spirit, Asano-chan?” he cooed, earning a deadly glare. “Besides, your folks said it was okay, so what’s the big deal?”

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, clenching his hands into fists like he was going to kill the red-head. “You…you…”

Karma smiled brightly, flipping the hand towel over his shoulder. “Well, see you downstairs for breakfast!” He casually made his way to the guest room. “Better not be late, second—place!”


	58. Don't think about it

“Oh, wow, Mrs Asano, this omelette is really amazing!” Karma was all smiles and praises at the breakfast table, sitting opposite Mitsuko while Gakushuu wouldn’t stop glaring at him. “Thank you so much!”

Dad was sipping his coffee and looking at Karma like he was a demon who’d entered their home.

Mitsuko thought it was hilarious and couldn’t stop smirking.

“Oh, thank you!” Mom smiled brightly, pouring him some orange juice. “Aren’t you sweet?”

Gakushuu stabbed his toast with his fork. “Yeah, for a sadist.”

“Gakushuu.” Mom frowned, shooting him a chiding look. “Don’t be rude to our guest.”

Gakushuu glared. “But, mom, he—“

“Be nice,” mom ordered sternly.

Karma’s smile grew while her brother scowled.

“Fine…” Gakushuu muttered.

Mom smiled and placed her hands on his shoulders, kissing the top of his head. “That’s my sweet, little man.”

Karma nearly choked on his omelette when he tried to hold back a laugh.

Gakushuu’s cheeks heated up, ducking his head to glower darkly at his plate.

Mom seemed oblivious and patted him on the head before walking back to the sink.

Mitsuko grinned, sipping her juice. “There was some fresh snow last night, you guys wanna build a snowman?”

“Yes,” Karma said at the exact same time Gakushuu said, “no.”

“I have work to do,” Gakushuu argued.

Karma raised an eyebrow. “It’s the winter break.”

Her brother huffed. “And? I’m the student council president, there are a number of duties I’ll need to complete before we enter the third term—especially with the entrance exams.”

The red-head smirked. “Don’t come in second place again.”

“I’ll murder you with this fork,” Gakushuu hissed coldly, raising the fork warningly.

“What high school will you be attending, Akabane?” dad asked lightly, smiling politely as he drunk his coffee.

Karma’s gaze lit up as the smile on his face bore teeth. “Oh, I’m staying on!”

Gakushuu stiffened. “What?”

Mitsuko smiled brightly, feeling a rush of excitement. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Karma smiled at the Principal whose eyes had narrowed slightly.

“Oh, that will be nice!” Mom said cheerfully as she put away some dishes in the dishwasher.

Gakushuu glared at their mom briefly before directing it at Karma. “Are you being serious?”

“100%!” Karma replied with a smirk. “Unless you’re worried I’ll beat you again?”

Her brother’s eyes narrowed. “Hardly.” He scowled. “If you think _one_ victory guarantees you top place in high school, then you’re surely mistaken.”

“Well, high school should be fun.” Mitsuko smiled slyly. “It’ll be fun beating you both.”

“Oh, really?” Karma grinned. “That’s bad luck, Asano. Mitsuko's gonna beat you for second place.”

“I will murder you.” Her brother sounded serious. 

She smiled crookedly. “I’m just warning you, I won’t be holding back come high school.”

Dad seemed to find that amusing and patted her on the head, making her smile grow. “I’m sure you’ll both try your best.” He smiled at Gakushuu. “You both have the strength and determination needed.”

Gakushuu frowned faintly.

“Does anyone want more juice?” Mom came over with a jug of orange juice.

Dad smiled sheepishly and held up his mug. “Well, my coffee—“

“Get your own.” Mom’s smile didn’t crack, moving past him and towards Karma.

Mitsuko covered her mouth to smother a laugh at her dad’s put-out expression.

“Would you like some more, Karma? Your glass is nearly empty?”

Karma was nearly having a laughing fit. “Y-yeah! Sure.” He grinned, holding up his half-full glass. “Thanks for the hospitality, Mrs Asano!”

“It’s no trouble.” Mom smiled warmly. “It’s nice having more people in the house.”

“What is this a hostel…?” Gakushuu grumbled darkly under his breath.

Dad gave an unconvincing smile. “It’s so… _nice_ to have you, Akabane.” He stood up to go pour his own coffee. “But just out of interest, when will your parents be returning home? I’m sure they’ll want to catch you up on their travels.”

Karma shrugged sipping his juice. “Well, they said the 31st, but since they know I’m staying at friends they say it might be the 4th January now.”

Gakushuu started coughing. “W-what?!”

Dad's smile twitched. "I would have expected them to at least call beforehand to let us know." His wife shot him a dark look. "Not that it matters of course!"

“Awesome! Then you can help out with me and Gakushuu’s party,” Mitsuko said.

“Party?” Karma raised an eyebrow. “Wait, when’s your birthday?”

“1st January,” Mitsuko replied. “We’re planning a hot pot party here on the day.”

Karma raised an eyebrow before he grinned. “Ah, sixteen…” He stretched. “I remember when I was your age like it was yesterday.”

"It was yesterday."

"I guess that's why I'm so wise-- I just can't help it really."

“For goodness sake.” Gakushuu buried his face in his hand.

“It seems like a lifetime ago,” Karma sighed loudly. 

Her brother looked like he’d bash his head against a wall. “Stop. Just stop.”

“You kids just don’t know how good you have it until it’s—“

Gakushuu swiftly picked up Karma’s plate and tossed the breakfast on the floor when both their parents were distracted talking to each other about something.

“Gakushuu!” Mitsuko reprimanded. “What the hell?”

“Oops.” Her brother shrugged with feigned innocence. “My hand slip—WHAT THE HELL!?”

Karma had poured orange juice on her brother’s lap.

Both their parents looked over just as Gakushuu tried to put Karma into a headlock.

“Gakushuu!” Mom dropped what she was doing and rushed over. “We don’t attack guests!!”

Meanwhile, dad sipped his coffee while Mitsuko sipped her orange juice as they calmly watched Mom try to pry the two boys apart.

* * *

“You’re both going to kill each other in high school,” Mitsuko declared as she and Karma built a snowman in the back garden.

Karma shrugged, gathering a heap of snow to roll into a ball for the middle of the snowman. “That’s part of the fun.”

She laughed, patting down the first large snowball of the snowman. It still needed to be rounded since it was lumpy in places. “Well, I don’t want you to kill each other yet.” She smiled warmly. “It’s our birthday in a few days and I want us to spend it together.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He shrugged, crouching down to mould the snow into a ball; he was wearing fingerless gloves which she had advised against. “Don’t worry, you two will get your twin birthday.”

Mitsuko nodded. “Good.” Her smile wavered when she looked up at his bedroom window. “It might be our last one, so I want it to be special.”

Karma was quiet for a bit. “Hey, don’t be such a killjoy.” He smirked. “We’ll kill the pervy-octopus in time.” His smile was sadistic. “I told the others we should make him watch the island video again before we snuff the life out of him!”

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Heh…right…” She looked down and patted the snow some more even though it was already smooth. “It’s just…I don’t know…”

“What?” He looked up curiously.

She chewed on her tongue, shrugging. “Do you think there’s another way?”

Karma froze, frowning. “Huh?”

Mitsuko shrugged, standing up when her knees started to hurt, dusting off some snow from her woollen leggings. “With Koro-sensei…”

He stared at her for a moment, making her frown. “…You mean besides killing him?”

She shrugged again, growing unsure. “Well, yeah. Haven’t you ever thought about it?”

Karma gave her a long hard look which reminded her too much of her brother. “No.”

“Oh.” Mitsuko’s shoulders slumped as she shifted on the spot uneasily. “Well, that’s fair enough.” She sighed. “It’s just something I’ve been thinking about.”

Karma hummed. “Right.” He focussed on putting the ball of snow on top of the larger one. “We still have a mission though.”

“I know but…” She grimaced, crossing her arms. “I mean…he did save my dad.” Her stomach twisted. “And that’s only a fraction of the stuff he’s done for me and my family…it feels like I owe him, you know?”

He stared at the half-finished snowman and shrugged again. “We have to kill him to graduate as assassins, right?”

“Well, yeah…”

“That’s how the whole point for teaching us,” Karma pointed out. “Way I see it, killing him is out of respect.”

Mitsuko frowned, nodding. “You have a point…” Koro-sensei had done nothing but encourage them trying to kill him. It was the cornerstone that had caused them all to come together and become friends. “…He did keep pushing me to try to kill him, even when I wasn’t sure.”

They’d made a commitment to kill him but after everything he’d done…it was hard to just full go through it without feeling guilty. No one was talking about it, not even in their message group, but she couldn’t really blame them. It wasn’t nice thinking about what Ms Yukimura had gone through and how she’d died, just how it wasn’t nice realising that their teacher was a trained killed who had murdered more people than Bitch-sensei and Mr Karasuma combined.

_But still…_

She took in a deep breath. “Whatever.” She shook her head. “I honestly don’t even want to think about it, I’m stressed enough just processing everything he’s told us.”

“Yeah, it was a lot.” Karma shrugged. “Still can’t believe the bastard was actually pretty suave pre-octo op.”

Mitsuko smiled. “I know right.” She tried to imagine it. “I can’t even fully imagine him human so the whole thing with Ms Yukimura is a bit…”

“Hentai?” Karma grinned. “Guess you guys had a lot in common!”

She threw a snowball at his face. “Fuck off.”

He chuckled, shaking the snow off. “Oh, you really shouldn’t have started that!” He was already rolling up a snowball. “I’m gonna give you frostbite.”

She ducked and grabbed a handful of snow. “Not if I shove snow in your pants!”

He grabbed an armful of snow and started pelting her with it. “Come and try!”

Mitsuko grinned sharply when the snow hit her and started piling up her own ammunition.

It was still just over three months until March came, which meant they might be able to get away with not thinking about it for a little while longer.

* * *

“Ugh! You’re doing it wrong!” Mitsuko lectured when Karma missed a stitch on his knitting sample. “It’s a mess.”

“No, I’m not!” Karma scowled at her, the two of them sitting in front of the fire near the tree while she tried to teach him how to knit a basic scarf.

His stitching was atrocious and messy, with large gaps in-between the wool, which was disappointing since even when she’d been practising she’d never been so clumsy!

“Will you two keep it down,” Gakushuu complained from where he was studying near the corner on a small table. “Some of us are trying to be productive.”

Karma rolled his eyes when he looked over his shoulder at him. “Yeah, well some of us have a life outside of studying.” He smirked. “You might wanna try and have some fun before dying of an aneurism.”

Mitsuko laughed while Gakushuu glared at him. “I’m not going to die from an aneurism!”

“You sure? I can see your veins popping from here.”

Gakushuu threw a pencil at him, it bounced off Karma’s head.

Then dad walked in with some Christmas cookies and a miserable expression. “Your mother won’t stop baking…”

Mitsuko smirked. “And you’re stuck helping her?”

Karma grinned wickedly and made a whipping noise. “How’s that ball and chain feeling, sir?”

Dad narrowed his eyes at the two of them. “How amusing.” He sighed and placed the cookies on the fireplace mantle before looking over at Gakushuu. “She did ask if you wanted to help, Gakushuu.”

Her brother visibly tensed, narrowing his eyes at their dad warily. “…I’m busy.”

There were faint traces of amusement on dad’s face as he walked over. “Still studying to make up for your loss, I see.”

Mitsuko frowned when she noticed Karma grew more on edge when the Principal approached her brother.

Gakushuu gripped his pen tight as he looked up at their dad. “I would hardly call three points a loss.”

Dad hummed and stared at the piled of books briefly before smiling. “Well, just remember to get enough sleep.” He ruffled his hair, causing her brother to stiffen and look up in surprise. “You shouldn’t overwork yourself. Proper rest is important.”

_Well, that was a 180 from the normal spiel._

“Uh, are we just forgetting the time you made us both stay up until 4 AM to run through those practice exams?” Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “You know, back when we were _thirteen_?!”

Karma’s eyes widened at that and then narrowed at the Principal. “Is that so, huh?”

Dad’s smile dimmed, keeping his hand on Gakushuu’s head as his gaze drifted off somewhere. “I haven’t forgotten…” He sighed and gave her brother a small smile. “I suppose I shouldn’t be the one telling you, but your mother worries you’re not getting enough rest. I’m only relaying her concerns.”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed as he stared up at their dad. “…I’m perfectly capable of getting the correct amount of sleep.”

“Liar.” She scoffed, making their dad smirk faintly. “You haven’t had a full eight hours of sleep since you were twelve.”

“Well, excuse me for being productive,” her brother replied, huffing.

“It’s called insomnia!”

Karma started to grin. “Hey, we could drug your coffee if you’re having trouble sleeping.”

Gakushuu looked horrified. “I’ll have you arrested if you so much as breath near my coffee!”

“Not if you’re knocked out.”

Her brother growled, while dad chuckled lightly and patted him on the head, surprising them. “Be nice to your friend, son.”

Gakushuu looked offended. “He’s not my friend!”

“Aw! Second-place!” Karma pouted. “You’re so mean!”

“Shut up, you pest!”

Dad’s smile grew. “Well, I’ll be back with more cookies.” He started to walk out. “Your mother is on a baking streak it seems so I expect that plate empty by the time I get back.” He smiled at them from behind the door. “Otherwise it’ll be extra winter homework! I have a few practice sheets already drawn up!” Dad smiled sharply at Karma. “I also have some for you, Akabane. We can’t let that sharp mind dull during the break!”

Both of the three students glared at their Principal as he happily hummed and disappeared down the hallway.

Karma raised the knitting needle threateningly. “You guys wanna stab his tires?”

“Tempting, but no,” Gakushuu replied dryly, returning to studying.

“I am debating it,” Mitsuko said, standing up to grab a cookie. “Let’s just wait until he’s done being mom’s baking slave.”

* * *

“Stop adding chillies!” Gakushuu smacked Karma’s hand away from the hot pot.

Karma grinned, baring his teeth. “Why not? They sharpen ya senses!” He tried to put them in but Gakushuu grabbed his wrist. “Don’t be such a wet blanket!”

Ren looked nervous. “Uh, I’m sure a few more chillies wouldn’t be that bad...”

Mitsuko looked over in amusement from where she was snuggling up with Rio on the cushion on the floor. They were all gathered in the dining room with two hot pots on the boil with the dining table and chairs folded away to the edge of the room while the wooden floor had been covered with a large grey rug and lots of cushions.

Nagisa, Sugaya, and Araki were busy stirring the second hot pot while Seo and Koyama were arguing about what music to put on.

“Can you just agree on a song already?” Takebayashi asked, looking up from where he was reading.

Seo tried to wrestle the speaker from Koyama. “I’ve got the best stuff!”

“What’s wrong with instrumental!?” Koyama complained. “

“I want songs with words, moron!” Seo yelled back, pushing his face away.

“Happy birthday!” Kurahashi came bouncing into the room holding two helium balloons by their strings. “Sorry, I’m late!” The balloons she was carrying were both blue and said ‘Sweet Sixteen’ on them while a glittery bag was in her other hand. “I had to get one of my brothers to drive me.”

Mitsuko smiled and stood up. “No problem.” She smiled and hugged her, accepting the balloons. “Thanks for making it—I know January 1st is kind of an awkward date…”

“Oh, no it’s fine! Besides I normally just sleep in.” Kurahashi smiled at Gakushuu. “Hey, Asano, where should I put the presents.” She dangled the bag. “Don’t worry, I got you one too!”

Her brother raised an eyebrow when he looked up, distracted long enough for Karma to slip some more chillies in the pot. “Just leave them on the side,” he told her. “Present opening will begin promptly at 4pm.”

“What? But that’s ages away!” Rio complained, burying her face in one of the cushions.

Gakushuu crossed his arms stubbornly. “If you don’t like it, leave.”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, tying the balloon to her wrist. “You can’t tell my girlfriend to leave, Gakushuu.”

He huffed. “Last time I checked, _I’m_ the oldest and our parents gave me full authority over this party.”

“Where are your parents anyway?” Sugaya asked.

“Dad’s working in his office and mom’s in her room reading,” Mitsuko replied, sitting down next to Gakushuu so she could tie the other balloon to his wrist. “We would have kicked them out but there isn’t really—“

“I don’t want it tied to my wrist.” Gakushuu tried to whack her hand away. “I’m not five!”

Mitsuko scowled. “But it’s our birthday…”

“No,” he replied irritably.

Her bottom lip wobbled as she fixed him with a wide-eyed look. “But, Gaku-nii…” She tugged on the balloon string as it bobbed in the air. “I want us to match…”

Gakushuu gritted his teeth and glared at her as Seo and Koyama were trying very hard not to laugh, while Karma laughed opening.

“Aw! Don’t be mean, Asano-chan!” Karma chided, earning a livid glare from Gakushuu. “It’s her birthday too.”

“Don’t call me that!” he snapped, and then felt his glare soften when gave him a pleading look. “…Ugh…” He scowled, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “…Fine.”

Mitsuko smiled brightly. “Thank you!” She quickly tied the balloon to his wrist. “Aw, now look, we match!”

“This is completely pointless!” Gakushuu complained.

“But awesome blackmail material.” Karma and Rio took pictures on their phones.

“Don’t forget to smile!” Rio chimed in.

“Enough!” Gakushuu threw cushions at them both. “Does he really have to stay here until the 4th?” He shot Mitsuko an annoyed look.

Mitsuko smiled sweetly. “Don’t be mean.” She crossed her arms. “Your friends can be annoying too—you’re lucky I let Seo come.”

“Hey!” Seo snapped, glaring at her. “You’re lucky I even came!”

“Well, you’re free to leave anytime,” Mitsuko replied dismissively.

“Hey, come on guys!” Ren intervenes, placing a hand on Seo and Mitsuko’s shoulders. “Exams are over, I thought we were all going to try to get along now?”

“I never agreed to that,” Seo said stubbornly, folding his arms.

Ren’s smile tightened, digging his nails into his shoulder. “Yeah, well it’s her birthday too so just deal with it.”

“Ah!” Seo cringed. “Okay fine!”

Mitsuko smiled at Ren. “Thanks, Ren.”

Ren smiled and swung an arm around her. “Can’t have my two best friends having a bad birthday.” He pinched her cheek fondly. “I even brought my portable Karaoke machine so we can duet!” He smashed her face against his chest as his eyes sparkled with wonder. “Our voices will be an angelic harmony!”

“Okay!” Rio quickly got behind them and pushed them apart. “A little less of the weird karaoke obsession!” She shoved Ren’s face away until he fell to the ground, before wrapping an arm around her girlfriend. “Seriously, personal space much.”

Mitsuko looked confused for a minute. “Uh…”

Ren scowled at Rio briefly, rubbing his face, before he smiled sweetly. “Hey, no need to get jealous, Nakamura, I’ll duet with you as well if it _really_ means that much to you.”

Gakushuu and the other three seemed to find it amusing for some reason.

_Am I missing something here?_

Rio glared at him, holding her closer. “I’d rather lick sandpaper.”

Ren’s smile was coy. “You sure that’s not the only thing you want to lick?”

_Huh?_

Rio turned bright red. “You—“

“ _Ren.”_ Her brother snapped, wiping the smile off Ren’s face.

“Sorry!” Ren looked nervous. “I-I was just joking!”

Her brother’s gaze turned deadly “About my sister?”

Ren, Koyama, and Araki looked scared.

“N-no!”

_What is…? Oh!_

Mitsuko blushed when she finally realised.

_Stupid boys!!_

Mitsuko quickly cleared her through, trying not to blush. _“_ U-um, anyway!” She smiled. “Let’s all just put differences aside.”

Nagisa smiled unsurely. “Yeah, it’s the winter break, we’re meant to be having fun.”

Gakushuu huffed, picking at the string tied around his list before glaring at the balloon when it bobbed against his head. “We are having fun,” he said matter of factly. “I’ve arranged several games for us to play while the food cooks.”

“Uh, that sounds fun,” Nagisa said, smiling still. “What kind of games?”

“Well, there are lots of educational ones to help stimulate our minds.” Gakushuu picked up a stack of ‘History Trivia’ cards. “Now there are different fact trivia games to choose from but I’ve put forward History, science, and geography as the main contenders!” Then he picked up a blank grid. “Followed by Sudoku.”

No one looked excited.

“Oh, God no…” Rio groaned, running a hand over her face.

Karma yawned loudly in the background.

“Uh…” Sugaya looked at Mitsuko pleadingly. “ _Or,_ we could maybe do something else?”

“Um, yeah…” Araki rubbed the back of his neck. “We are on a break after all…”

“ _And?”_ Gakushuu looked annoyed, lowering the grid. “Learning doesn’t just stop, Araki.”

Ren sighed deeply, rolling his eyes. “Here we go…”

Mitsuko smiled sheepishly, placing a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “How about we save the trivia games for later once everyone’s eaten?”

Gakushuu frowned. “I suppose…”

“Oh!” Kurahashi clapped her hands, making the Big Five look surprised by the sudden excitement. “We can play charades!”

“Please no!” Koyama buried his face in his hands. “My parents make me play that every Christmas.”

“But it sounds fun,” Nagisa said.

“Nah!” Karma exclaimed, standing up. “You guys are boring.” He smirked at Gakushuu and Mitsuko. “What we _really_ should be doing is playing a prank.”

“A prank?” Mitsuko frowned.

Gakushuu scoffed. “If you want to engage in criminal activities, Akabane, then you can kindly leave.”

Karma rolled his eyes. “Hey, relax, Mr Perfect.” He grinned wickedly. “I wasn’t thinking anything, criminal. Just a harmless prank.”

Mitsuko exchanged a look with her brother. “What kind of prank?”

The redhead's smile was devilish. “Well, since the Principal is so close by, wouldn’t you wanna get a little revenge?”

“You can’t be serious?” Gakushuu said, frowning with the tiniest bit of curiosity.

“Yeah, pranking my dad is as good as suicide,” Mitsuko commented, growing uneasy. “He doesn’t have a sense of humour and he’s the _Principal_ \--he has the power to make your lives a living hell.”

“Yeah, but didn’t you say your mom had him on ball and chain?” Rio reminded them slyly.

“And you did say he’s really eager to earn your forgiveness,” Sugaya pointed out.

“Well…yeah,” Mitsuko’s brow furrowed. “But that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences.”

“Oh, come on, live a little,” Karma sighed in exasperation. “Way I see it, it’s justice. You can’t just let him get away with all the shit he put you through, where’s that ‘ _I’ll crush you into oblivion’_ spirit!”

A few of them snorted in amusement while Gakushuu scowled.

Mitsuko started to smile. “…It could be fun.”

Her brother gave her a sharp look. “ _Mitsuko_ …”

“Oh, come on, it could be fun!” she argued, smiling. “Besides, we shouldn’t be afraid of dad anymore, remember?”

Her brother grimaced, still looking unsure.

“Look, it’ll be harmless, I promise,” Karma said, walking over to where his backpack was. “It’ll be Primary School standard.” He reached into his bag. “I brought lots of supplies.”

“Just how long have you been planning this?” Gakushuu snapped. “And when did you stack up on supplies?!”

“Oh, I’ve had these since Mitsuko invited me over!” Karma looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Think of it as my gift to you.” He took out a small sachet. “Behold!”

“What is that?” Seo peered at the pink sachet he was holding.

Karma chuckled darkly. “Just a little old powder to turn dear Mr Principal’s teeth blacker than Asano-chan’s heart.”

“What?!” Gakushuu stood up and walked over. “Give me that!” He snatched the pink sachet and scanned the back. “Where did you even get this? Some cheap joke shop?”

“I don’t reveal my sources,” Karma replied lightly, whacking the hovering balloon in his face. “It’s meant for consumption so it’s tasteless.”

Gakushuu scowled and tugged his balloon away and out of reach. “You do realise how perceptive my father is, correct? He’d see it a mile away.”

Mitsuko’s smile grew as she imagined her dad’s perfect white teeth turned to charcoal. “We could put it in his coffee.” She stood up. “He always has coffee breaks in-between working.”

“But do we put it in all the coffee?” Kurahashi asked. “What if he looks inside and sees it?”

“That’s a good point,” Takebayashi commented. “He’ll notice the inconsistency, and since you have a coffee machine, it might not be enough powder.”

Mitsuko hummed, rubbing her chin. “Well, I could make him the coffee.”

Rio frowned. “Would that work?”

“I think so.” Mitsuko examined the sachet, reading the label. “What do you think, Gaku-nii?” She smiled mischievously. “Wanna have some fun Class E style?”

Her brother’s brow knitted, staring at the sachet and then Karma’s devilish grin. “…It would be something of a time filler.” Then he scowled stubbornly. “But I expect us to play Sudoku and trivia afterwards.”

Karma’s eyes glinted. “Fair enough.” Then he reached into his bag again and got out some spices and weird-looking powders. “While we’re at it, I also brought a few more things for the long game!”

“Uh…”

Everyone else started to grow concerned.

A sweatdrop slid down Nagisa’s head. “…Just how thorough did you plan this?” 


	59. But I can't ignore it either

Mitsuko handed her balloon to Sugaya. “Wish me luck.”

“Don’t die,” he whispered as he hid with the others behind the corner in the hallway.

Mitsuko smiled in amusement and shook her head, carrying the steaming mug of tampered coffee in her hands.

She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door of her dad’s home office.

“Come in,” he replied from the other side.

She opened the door a fraction and poked her head in. “Hey.”

He glanced up from the paperwork he was looking through, dressed in his suit like he was at work. “Is there something you needed?” Then he frowned. “Or did Akabane break something?”

“Not yet.”Mitsuko snorted in amusement and left the door open a crack as she entered the office. “I made you coffee.” Mitsuko shrugged and placed the coffee on the desk. “Call it a peace gesture for letting me invite them over.”

Dad glanced at the coffee and then back at her. “As if I had much of a choice.”

“True.” Mitsuko smiled sweetly. “Mom’s got you collared, and it’s hilarious.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I’m so glad you find it amusing.” He shook his head and looked back down at the papers he’d been signing. “Regardless, please do keep an eye on your friends, I assume there is still some friction between them and your brother’s co-horts.”

“Well, yeah, but not that much,” she replied, shrugging. “Ever since finals things have been…less tense. E Class showed the school our strength so we’ve earned their respect at the least.”

“Yes, I’ll admit they have.” Her dad hummed, glancing at the coffee briefly. “Your classmates are certainly tenacious. There are some strong individuals in there.”

She nearly rolled her eyes. “Is there a ‘however’ at the end of that sentence?” she asked dryly. “I swear you don’t you like any of my friends”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s a bold assumption.” He clasped his hands on the desk. “I actually think Kurahashi and Nagisa are good influences, and Sugaya has improved compared to his days of vandalising school property.”

She scoffed, walking over. “Wow, bet they’ll be happy to hear that.”

“And Isogai and Kataoka are wonderful diligent students,” he continued. “I had an amusing conversation with that young lady Fuwa where she tried to compare me to a villain in the latest Manga she was reading.” He smiled faintly. “And that Sugino boy has quite the talented throw.”

She sighed. “And here comes the ‘but’…”

He frowned. “ _But_ as for the others…” His eyes narrowed. “Takebayashi broke my award, Akabane is a delinquent, and Nakamura is notoriously deviant and far too inappropriate in her flirting towards you.”

“Um, she’s _my girlfriend_ , flirting kind of comes with the package.” Mitsuko sighed. “You’ve never even tried to get to know her.”

Dad huffed, picking up the mug. “A father is perfectly within his right to dislike his daughter’s choice in partner,” he told her, earning a frown in response. “You’ve grown into an intelligent, beautiful, and strong young woman.” His smile was fond, causing her chest to fill with warmth. “It’s not unreasonable for me to suggest you set the bar higher.”

_He really thought that highly of her now?_

A small smile crept onto her face. “You…you really think that?” Then she tensed and grew on guard. “You better not be lying!”

He cradled the mug close in his hands. “I’m not lying,” he said simply. “It’s my reason for thinking you deserve better, but it’s entirely my opinion.” He shrugged. “While I might not care much for her, Nakamura makes you happy, therefore she will always be welcome in our home.”

Mitsuko lowered her guard, sighing in relief. “Well, okay then, I guess I can understand that.” Then she smiled brightly. “Besides, she doesn’t like you very much either.”

He smirked. “Yes, I gathered.” Then to her delight, he took a large sip of the coffee. “But that’s…” He trailed off when his brow knitted, staring into the coffee. “Hm?”

Her smile widened, slipping her phone out of her pocket. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes instantly narrowed at her. “What did you—?”

She took a picture the second he opened his mouth wide enough for her to see the charcoal black stained teeth.

“Gotcha.” Then she bolted.

Dad’s chair scraped against the floor when he stood up. “Mitsuko!”

“I GOT IT!!” She screamed, nearly smashing into the wall when she skidded into the hallway. “I FUCKING GOT IT!!”

Her brother and her friends all popped their heads from around the corner of the hallway.

“SERIOUSLY?!” They all replied.

She rushed over to them and showed them the picture.

They all burst out laughing.

“Holy shit!” Rio was nearly crying. “Send it to the group chat! Send it, please!”

“Mitsuko!” When dad stepped out of his office it was like a dark smog was filtering out like centipedes were climbing the walls towards them. “Get. Back. Here. _Now_.”

The laughter stopped instantly when they all froze up.

“Uh…”Mitsuko’s eyes widened when the Principal’s eyes glowed purple.

_Ah, shit…._

“Fucking run!” Sugaya yelled as they all ran down the hallway.

Gakushuu tossed both their balloons in their dad’s direction before running. “Move!”

“Every man for themselves!” Koyama squeaked as they tried to escape.

“Get back here!” Dad marching after them.

“Where are we gonna hide?!” Nagisa asked as they came to a crossroads in the hallway.

“The roof?” Araki suggested.

“Who the fuck hides on a roof?!” Seo snapped.

“The garage?” Kurahashi suggested.

Takebayashi looked over his shoulder. “Which room has a lock on it?”

“No time for that!?” Mitsuko said, grabbing Rio’s hand. “Follow me!”

She ran to the left with them all close, as dad was hot on their tail until she made it to mom’s room and burst in.

“MOM! DAD’S TRYING TO KILL US!!” Mitsuko screamed as she at the others piled in.

Mom stared at them in shock from where she was sat comfortably on the bed with a cup of tea. “W-what?”

Gakushuu gave their mom the best innocent smile he could muster. “We were just playing a party game and he got mad at us.”

“Yeah!” Mitsuko’s bottom lip wobbled. “Tell him to stop.”

“Mitsuko!” Dad yelled, making some of them jump.

Mom’s eyes narrowed darkly, standing up. “Just what on Earth…?”

When dad arrived in the threshold of the door, the group of teenagers—besides Nagisa, Karma, Rio, and the twins— hid behind Mayumi like she was their shield.

“See what we mean!” Rio said innocently.

“Protect us!” Koyama yelped, ducking his head to hide behind their mom.

Dad took in what he was seeing and gritted his black teeth, which is when Karma snapped another picture.

Mom’s eyes widened when she saw. “Oh…” She snorted and quickly covered her mouth. “Oh, my…”

“It was just a prank, dad,” Mitsuko said sweetly with wide eyes. “Don’t be mad!”

“I don’t know why you’re upset.” Gakushuu actually laughed. “It’s a good look for you!”

Dad growled. “You little…”

Mom couldn’t stop smiling. “Alright, that’s enough.” She patted Sugaya and Ren on the head when they tried to hide further behind her. “You all had your fun and now it’s time to apologise.”

Mitsuko shared an amused smile with her friends.

“We’re sorry, Principal Asano!” The teenagers all chimed sweetly.

“There we go.” Mom chuckled, walking over to dad. “They’re just having some fun, there’s no need to get mad.”

“Yeah, it only last 24 hours,” Karma said brightly.

Dad shot him a dark glare which only made the demon child smile more.

“See, it’s not permanent, and it’s not like school is in session,” Mom told him, shrugging. “Stop being so dramatic and let them have some fun.”

Mitsuko and her brother grinned smugly at their dad. “Yeah!”

Dad’s eye twitched, muttering darkly under his breath as the purple glow in his eyes lost its edge. “I do not want to be disturbed any further this afternoon or evening.”

Karma smiled sweetly. “No worries, Mr Principal-sir! We’ll be as good as gold.”

“Yeah!” Rio’s smile was sharp. “You’ll forget we’re even here!”

Mitsuko nearly laughed when she saw how close her dad looked to murdering Rio and Karma right then and there.

But the sharp look mom shot him seemed to smother his desire to murder, as he clenched his jaw and muttered something under his breath and left to go back to his office.

The others gave a loud sigh of relief.

“Oh, man, I was really worried there for a sec.” Ren smiled feebly and rubbed the back of his neck.

Araki sighed. “Me too…”

“Yeah, I forgot how scary your dad can be, Mitsuko,” Kurahashi laughed.

Sugaya nodded. “Yeah, he looked like he really would kill us.”

“Nah, he’s not allowed to murder guests,” Mitsuko said confidently. “That would be rude.”

“Yes, it would be.” Mom smiled and nodded, patting her on the head. “But I think it’s best you kids leave him alone now and go back to your party.”

“No problem, Mrs Asano,” Karma told her sweetly. “We won’t bother him again.” His teeth were sharp when he bared them. “We promise!”

Mom smiled and patted him on the head. “That’s good to hear. Now you all run along.”

“Okay!”

They all piled out of the room and started to make their way back to the dining room.

“Well, that was fun.” Karma smirked at Gakushuu. “Told you it’d be worth it.”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and was trying very hard not to smile. “I suppose it was amusing.”

Mitsuko laughed. “Yeah, it was great.” Her smile was sly. “Though, probably best we lay low until he’s cooled down—or he really might murder you in your sleep, Karma.”

Karma grinned. “He’s welcome to try.” His eyes glinted. “I already added a few surprises for him to find later—I had to use up the rest of my stash after all!”

Nagisa smiled and shook his head. “You really are trying your luck, Karma.”

The red-head shrugged. “Can’t waste an opportunity—besides, the guy’s had it coming for months after all the crap he’s pulled.”

There were nods in agreement.

Kurahashi clapped her hands excitedly. “Well, now that’s done we can eat!”

“I turned the hot pots off to simmer so they should be ready by now,” Nagisa told them.

“And once we finish eating we can open presents,” Mitsuko said excitedly.

“But not before our trivia games and Sudoku,” Gakushuu reminded them promptly.

They all sighed in exasperation.

* * *

“For the last time that isn’t the right answer!” Gakushuu looked annoyed, holding the Trivia cards on history.

Karma shrugged, leaning against the wall. “Yes, it is. Your Trivia Game is just biased.”

“It is true,” Takebayashi said as he, Nagisa, Seo, Araki, and Gakushuu were sat in a circle playing the game. “Which isn’t a surprise since it’s owned by a corporation more concerned on catering to the wider masses.”

Araki shrugged, chewing on some shrimp. “I vote we play the Geography one next.”

“No, we agreed on science!” Koyama whined from where he was piling his plate up with food from the hot pot.

“It’s Gakushuu’s birthday, he gets to choose,” Ren reminded them as he tried to hook his phone’s Bluetooth to the speaker.

Kurahashi was blowing up more balloons. “Can we play spin the bottle instead?”

“Uh, there aren’t enough girls here, Kurahashi,” Araki pointed out.

Karma smiled coyly. “Who says we need girls?”

Seo turned red. “Fuck off, Akabane! We already have two lesbians here! Stop making things more complicated!”

“The lesbians have names!” Rio called from where she was curled up with Mitsuko on a pile of cushions, the two of them eating. “Besides, Mitsuko’s Bi so she’d be up for it.”

“RIO!” Mitsuko looked annoyed.

Seo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but she’s not Bisexual if she’s with a girl.”

Both Mitsuko and Rio stiffened.

Rio narrowed her eyes at him. “What did you say?”

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, what’s that meant to mean?”

“Uh, that’s not how sexuality works, Seo,” Takebayashi said, shaking his head.

“No, it isn’t.” Gakushuu glared at his friend darkly. “Apologise.”

Seo yelped, cringing. “I was just saying…” He looked embarrassed. “Fine. I’m sorry…” He addressed Rio and Mitsuko. “But then how does it work? Because Ren said you used to like boys!”

Rio rolled her eyes. “Ren’s an idiot.”

“Hey!” Ren looked offended. “No, I’m not! I saw you kiss boys before.”

“Yeah, like when I was a kid.” Rio yawned, stretching. “Look, it’s not really any of your business,” she said, curling an arm around Mitsuko again. “I mean, I’m going through puberty so I’m still sorting it out but honestly I prefer kissing girls and I’m more attracted to them.” She shrugged. “I mean, men are interesting and I can appreciate their bodies and stuff—“

“Like Mr K!” Kurahashi chimed in.

Rio smirked. “Yeah, like that.” She shrugged. “But like, I’m not _physically_ attracted to them, at least not the parts that matter,” she told them as they listened intently. “It’s like when you first realise you’re attracted to someone, it’s _a process_ ,” she tried to explain. “I’m discovering stuff the more I’m with Mitsuko.”

This made the girl in question blush. “Which is different with me because I’m physically attracted to both.”Mitusko’s blushed darkened. “All parts…”

“Oh…” Seo frowned, seeming to think about it.

“I get it!” Kurahashi beamed. “I know for sure I’m straight because of Mr Karasuma.” Her eyes filled with hearts. “He’s amazing!”

Gakushuu’s eyes widened. “Isn’t he your _teacher_?”

“Yep!” Her smile grew while the other four of the Big Five gawked. “He sort of has this thing going on with Bitch-sensei so I’m keeping my distance…but if it doesn’t work out then he’s free game again!”

“Uh…” Araki looked concerned. “Who’s Bitch-sensei?!”

Koyama looked confused. “Yeah, what the hell are you talking about?”

“You do realise underage student-teacher relations are illegal?” Gakushuu remarked dryly.

“I’m willing to wait!” Kurahashi said brightly. “It’s not illegal if I’m eighteen!”

Mitsuko burst out laughing along with the others in Class E, confusing her brother and his friends.

Araki frowned, and then shook his head. “You guys are so weird.”

“Yeah, we know.” Mitsuko smiled and snuggled closer to Rio, resting her head on her chest as they leant against the wall. “Can we open presents now?”

“We still have twenty minutes before it’s 4pm,” Gakushuu complained, tapping the watch she’d got him.

They all stared at him blankly.

He scowled. “…Fine.”

“Yay!” Kurahashi jumped to her feet and went to grab the presents.

Mitsuko stayed where she was, thinking about what Rio had said. “…Are you really discovering stuff with me?”

Rio smirked. “Well, yeah, you’re my girlfriend.” She pinched her cheek, garnering a glare. “That’s kind of what happens when you’re in a relationship.”

“Well, yeah…” Mitsuko looked embarrassed. “It’s just the way you said it…it’s nice…like we’re special.” She smiled faintly and cupped her face, kissing her. “Like this is important.”

“Course it is.” Rio grinned, making her squeak when she kissed her neck and nibbled the skin. “This is our first rela—“

A familiar siren noise caused the two to break away while everyone else nearly jumped out of their skins.

“GAKUSHUU!” Mitsuko yelled at her brother.

Her brother paused the siren noise on his phone, looking unimpressed. “No underage inappropriate behaviour in the household, remember?”

“I’m sixteen!”

“Rules still apply,” he replied, his finger hovering above the play button. “Or I’ll tell mom.”

“Fuck off, Asano!!” Rio threw a cushion at him.

Gakushuu caught the cushion and glared at her. “Stop trying to molest my sister!”

“She’s my girlfriend, you fucking creep!” Rio shot back. “Stop saying I’m molesting her!” She clambered up to her feet. “Give me that phone!”

“I’ll file for assault charges is you come closer!” Gakushuu threatened.

“I’ll give you assault!” Rio lunged at him and tried to grab his phone. “I’ll smash this stupid thing in your face!”

Gakushuu tried to put her in a headlock. “I’ll charge you for the damages, you delinquent!”

“Guys, stop it!” Mitsuko cried, trying to pry them apart.

The others were laughing and Karma was on the floor clutching his stomach.

“Oh, God!” Sugaya had tears in his eyes. “Guys, please, I can’t breathe!”

Ren couldn’t stop laughing. “S-someone please get a picture!”

Karma calmed his laughter down long enough to snap a photo on his phone. “That’s going in the group chat!”

* * *

It was around six in the evening when everyone minus Karma started leaving until only Nagisa and Kurahashi were the last ones left to go.

Mitsuko hugged Kurahashi goodbye. “Thanks for coming!” She grinned, touching the beetle necklace around her neck. “And thanks for the necklace!”

Gakushuu still looked confused by the taxidermy green beetle she’d given him from the doorway. “Uh…yes. Thank you?”

Kurahashi smiled. “It’s fine! I had fun!” She waved goodbye when her brother honked the horn from the silver the car across the street. “Bye!”

“Bye!” Mitsuko waved, and then looked at Nagisa who kept checking his phone. “Is your dad coming to—“

“No.” Nagisa’s smile set her on edge. “My mom said she would pick me up so…”

Gakushuu looked horrified. “You told her where we lived!”

“Uh…” Nagisa smiled sheepishly. “Well, yeah, otherwise how could she pick me up?” He scratched the back of his head. “Don’t worry! She’s different now.”

Mitsuko and Gakushuu exchanged a doubtful look.

“Really!” Nagisa gave a strained laugh, raising his hands. “We talked and she’s a lot nicer now. Sometimes she still yells and she can be mean but…things are better.” His smile softened. “If your dad can change, so can my mom.”

Mitsuko frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, but you still have to be careful.” She smiled grimly. “We’re still wary of our dad a little, even if he has changed.”

The blue-haired boy nodded, lowering his gaze. “Yeah…” Then the smile was back. “But I’m giving her a chance and so far things are good.”

Gakushuu was staring at him with a frown like he thought he was lying. “People can relapse…”

“Yeah…” Mitsuko’s smile was painful. “So if that happens, you’re welcome to stay with us!” She looked at her brother. “Right, Gaku-nii?”

Her brother remained silent for a while, looking at Nagisa with an unreadable expression. “Yes…”

Nagisa looked surprised by his agreement but then smiled feebly. “Well, thanks, but I’ll be okay.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Plus, I think your parents might be put off having a friend stay over with how Karma is acting.”

Gakushuu grimaced. “A fair point.”

She laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She squeezed his shoulder. “But still, think about it.”

Nagisa nodded, smiling faintly. “Thanks.” He looked over his shoulder when he heard a car beep. “Uh, that’ll be her.”

Her brother was already trying to drag her back inside. “We’ll just go ahead and leave you to it then…” he said, staring at the car warily. “Thank you for coming.”

Nagisa seemed to find it funny and waved goodbye as he headed to the car.

Mitsuko watched him hesitantly until he disappeared inside the car before she headed back inside with her brother.

Gakushuu stretched his arms. “Well, at least she didn’t come inside for tea.”

She snorted. “True. That would have been a whole horror show.”

They both headed back to the dining room where Karma was lounging on some cushions and texting on his phone while the half-eaten birthday cake was still on the floor near him.

Her brother looked annoyed when he saw the hot pots were still out. “You said you’d finish tidying up where the others left off.”

The furniture had been mostly put back, with the plates and cutlery cleared away. The decorations had been taken off the ball, but there were still the cushions shoved to one corner and the empty hot pots on the floor.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I will,” Karma replied, shrugging. “I just saw this trailer online I wanted to watch first.”

Gakushuu pinched the bridge of his nose. “For goodness sake.”

“There’s no rush, we have all night,” Mitsuko replied with a shrug, going over to her pile of opened presents. “It was nice having everyone over.”

Her brother hummed and placed the stuffed beetle on his pile which mainly consisted of books, films, and some gadgets. “It was entertaining.”

“You’re welcome by the way,” Karma said, looking up from his phone.

Gakushuu glared at him. “We were having a perfectly good time without your intervention!”

“Oh, yeah, the trivia game _really_ went wild when Koyama introduced that timer,” Karma replied dryly, earning a glare. “I’m surprised your parents didn’t come over and shut us down when _that_ happened.”

Her brother hurled a heap of cushions at him. “Get off your lazy ass and help clean-up!”

Karma rolled his eyes, sweeping the cushions away as he stood up. “Yeah, yeah, calm down, drama queen.”

Mitsuko laughed, picking up one of the empty pots. “Come and help me wash up, Karma, while Gakushuu cleans up the balloons.”

“Sure.” Karma picked up the second pot while Gakushuu grumbled and started popping some of the balloons.

“Please, try to be nice to him for the next few days,” she said as they entered the kitchen.

Karma smiled slyly. “I thought I already was?”

Mitsuko sighed and shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”

“I am pretty amazing.”

She snorted, taking the first pot out of the main container, keeping the plug away from the sink. “Well, anyway, even if Gakushuu won’t admit it, you did liven things up.” She smiled. “It’s been nice having you here…”

Karma’s eyes widened a fraction and she could have sworn his cheeks heated up, but he looked away too fast. “Yeah, well, home was boring anyway. It’s more fun here.” He flashed her grin. “Your dad’s fun to mess with.” Then his grin twisted. “And your brother’s a fun toy to play with!”

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “Okay, kind of creepy, but whatever.” She shrugged scrubbing the pot. “Anyway, you being here kind of helped distract us from…well, everything else, I guess. Which is probably why mom was so happy about it…”

He hummed, helping her dry the pot when she finished rinsing it. “So, have they talked about the divorce much?”

“No.” Mitsuko sighed, feeling some dread return. “But we all know it’s coming—they’re just waiting to talk about it after the holidays. That’s how it tends to go anyway.”

“…It won’t be that bad,” Karma shifted uncomfortably. “You’re better off living with your mom anyway.” Then he frowned. “Unless you want to live with your dad?”

She gave a strained laugh. “We’re not crazy.” She smiled grimly. “I’d be fine with split custody, but that’s it. Dad may have changed but leaving us with him full time would be...” The grimness in her smile spread. “…Not the best idea. He’s still learning how to be a good dad and mom may not be the most stable person but at least I don’t have to worry about her hitting me or trying to drug me.”

“Yeah, good point.” He shrugged, placing the pot to the side as she washed the second one. “Nothing you can do until they talk about it, though.”

No, they couldn't, but the conversation would be coming soon, and the thought of it made her feel sick. The winter break may have had its bad points, but at least her family had actually acted like a family again.

No matter what the outcome of March, this was the last time all four of them would be celebrating the holiday together as one family. That much was certain. 

She swallowed a lump in her throat, feeling her eyes sting a little. “Yeah…but I can’t ignore it either.” Mitsuko sighed softly, thinking of her parents and then Koro-sensei. “Just because I don’t think about it doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem.” She looked out of the window at the broken moon. “March is three months away…”

Karma stopped drying the cutlery and paused, narrowing his eyes at a spot on the counter. “Yeah, it is.”


	60. Back to Reality

****A/N: This is super short, but I wanted to round off their Christmas break before...well before _that_ arc starts. ** **

* * *

“AKABANE!”

A monstrous voice penetrated every corner of the house.

Mitsuko jumped so far she fell out of bed and landed on the floor with the covers wrapped around her.

There was a scamper of footsteps, paddling across the floor as she tried to regain her bearings in the dark.

She clutched her head and groaned, blearily looking up at the clock to realise it was 4 AM.

“Oh, shit!” Her door flung open a second later with Karma flinging his back against it to keep it closed. “Oh, man! He’s _pissed!_ ”

Mitsuko nearly fell over when she scrambled to her feet. “What did you do?!”

He grinned, his hair ruffled and looking like he just woke up. “I put green hair dye in his shampoo.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or beat him for his stupidity.

“Are you insane?!” Mitsuko explained, gaping as she stood up. “Karma, what the fuck?!”

Karma looked delighted, his smile spreading wider. “Couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“Akabane!” Dad’s voice was lower but still deadly.

“Fuck!” She ran a hand down her face. “You really are suicidal.”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

She sighed and pressed her back against the door alongside him to keep it from opening when the handle rattled. “Dad! Calm down!” She yelled. “I’m not letting you in if you’re going to hurt Karma!”

She distinctly heard a low growl from the other side.

“For goodness sake, Gakuhou!” Mom’s voice could be heard. “It’ll wash out!”

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at Karma. “It will wash out, right?”

“Well, duh!” Karma sniggered. “I’m sadistic, not stupid.”

“What is going…?” Gakushuu’s sleep-deprived voice could be heard and then. “Oh, wow!” Her brother burst out laughing, the sound made her smile. “W-wow!”

“Yes, I’m sure it’s very funny, Gakushuu,” dad said coldly.

“Y-you look like a-a—“ Gakushuu couldn’t even speak properly. “A-a manga pirate!!”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened, sharing a look with Karma.

This she had to see, because some things were worth dying for.

Karma opened the door and they both stepped back.

Her dad was stood there in a blue dressing gown with grass-green hair and his black teeth bared.

Mitsuko keeled over laughing and burst into tears of hysterics when she saw.

Karma had to press himself against the wall to stay standing as he laughed.

Dad looked at them both with a cold closed of expression.

Mitsuko was gasping to breathe, collapsing on the floor as the giggles took over. “Oh, God!”

Mom sighed. “Alright, kids, that’s enough…”

The three of them couldn’t stop laughing for another five minutes.

The Principal stood there in stony silence while he waited for them to stop.

Karma wiped tears from his eyes, panting as he slid down the wall and onto the floor. “Oh, man…you guys…this family is amazing!” He grinned up at the Principal. “Thanks for the hospitality, sir!”

Mitsuko took a deep breath and smiled at her dad. “Oh, come on, dad, you’ve gotta admit this is funny!”

“It’s a masterpiece,” Gakushuu smirked, taking a picture. “I think it compliments your inner appearance wonderfully.”

Mom chuckled, but quickly tried to hide it. “Kids!” she raised her voice, as they started to calm down. “That’s enough.” She frowned at Karma who quickly tried to smother his giggles. “Karma, I told you not to aggravate him.” She crossed her arms sternly. “Mr Asano is your Principal and a head member of this household. You’re a guest in our home and this type of disrespect isn’t acceptable.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs Asano.”Karma quickly tried to wipe the smile off his face and look apologetic. “Sorry, Principal Asano-sir!” He smiled sweetly and even bowed his head. “I really appreciate your hospitality.”

Dad’s lips were set in a thin line, glowering at Karma darkly, and then glanced at his children. “…In two hours, I want _all three of you_ downstairs, in the dining room, fully dressed.” His voice was like ice, making them freeze. “Bring a pencil.”

Then with that, he turned around and marched down the hallway to presumably the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Mitsuko, Karma, and Gakushuu all exchanged a wary look.

Mom sighed, shaking her head and she pulled her dressing gown tighter around her. “You’ve really done it now…”

* * *

Mitsuko scowled and kept glancing at the ticking clock resting on the middle of the dining table the four of them were all sat around and spaced out.

She glared at the large stack of practice tests next to her, before looking over at Karma who was a seat away from her.

His brow was furrowed angrily and he kept chewing the end of his pencil as he scribbled answers down on the test.

Then she looked over at her brother opposite who just looked bored and was calmly going through his pile of tests.

Dad sat at the head of the table sipping tea while he glared at them. The bastard had managed to brush away most of the black stains on his teeth, leaving them slightly off coloured, but there were still tints of green in his hair which hadn’t washed out yet.

“Is he seriously not gonna let us leave until we finish all these stupid tests?” Karma hissed, scowling when he looked at the large stacks they all had between them.

Mitsuko smiled sympathetically. “Oh, yeah, he’s completely serious.”

Gakushuu sighed, pressing his pencil down hard on the paper. “Don’t expect a bathroom break either.”

“Test conditions,” dad interjected, smiling.

All three students shot him a glare.

Dad hummed pleasantly and drunk his tea. “And remember, the person with the lowest marks has to wash the car.”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened. “But, dad, it’s snowing outside! The garage is freezing!”

“Oh, I’m sure the cold air will do one of you some good!” He smiled sweetly. “It sharpens the senses!”

_Damn bastard._

She growled and went back to the test she was trying to finish.

_I’ll make those pictures of him circulate around the whole school!_

“…I take it back, this family sucks,” Karma mumbled as he filled in the next question.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. “Took you long enough to realise…”

* * *

“S-stupid tests!” Karma shivered as he warmed himself by the fire, still cold from having to wash the car in the freezing temperature. “H-he rigged it!”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes from where she was sat in an armchair knitting. “Hey, I’m making you gloves as fast as I can, just wait a little longer.”

From the corner of her eye, she could see her dad smirking from his spot on the small table, keeping his gaze on the book he was reading. More of the green had faded from his hair after another ten repeated washes throughout the day.

Mom walked in with two hot drinks, smiling at Karma. “Here you go, this will warm you up.” She passed him the hot chocolate. “Don’t burn your tongue.”

“Thanks, Mrs Asano.” Karma’s smile seemed genuine, taking the drink. “You’re too nice…”

“Nonsense.” She smiled and patted him on the head, sipping her own drink as she sat down by the sofa.

Mitsuko smiled faintly, curling her knees up on the armchair as everyone settled into a weird peaceful quiet.

A few seconds later Gakushuu came in with a box under his arm and a scowl on his face.

“Fine.” He slammed the box on the table, making mom jump and dad raise an eyebrow. “Let’s just build the stupid thing and get it over with.”

The rest of the occupants in the room stared at him in confusion.

Dad lowered his book and stared at his son. “You want to build it?”

“ _You_ challenged me to build it, and I refuse to back down from any challenge.” Gakushuu scoffed, sitting down next to him as he removed the lid of the box. “So it’s either we build it or I throw it in the trash, so let’s just get on with it.” He took out a handful of the pieces of lego and put them on the table. “If we start now we can have it finished before the night is over.”

“Huh?” Karma frowned, looking over at Mitsuko for information, but she just smiled in amusement and shrugged.

Dad smiled faintly and bookmarked the page in his book before placing it to the side. “Very well.”

Karma watched her brother and dad curiously as the two of them started to build something from the lego. He looked away after a while when the quiet settled again in the room.

Mitsuko relaxed in the armchair and felt more at peace than she had in years, which was ironic considering the current foreboding circumstances…but still, it was nice. Despite the fact, her family was on the brink of being torn apart even though this was the closest they’d been in years.

She smiled grimly and finished knitting the first glove with the grey woold. “Here.” She tossed it to the red-head. “That’s one hand at least.”

Karma stared at the glove for a while. “Thanks.” He smirked and slipped it on. “It’ll save me from frostbite.”

She snorted, already knitting the second one. “Exactly. I practically saved your life.”

His smirk grew, curling his knees up to his chin. When she glanced up at him every now and then, he kept staring at the Christmas tree, and also the rest of her family. He’d keep shooting looks at her brother and dad, and also her mom. The expression on his face closed-off.

When he looked at her she raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Mitsuko asked, wondering why he kept staring at her family.

There was a weird numb look on his face, shrugging. “Nothing…” 

* * *

“Dude, how are you not dead!?” Mimura exclaimed as all of the class all gathered around Ritsu, Karma, and Mitsuko as the photos were shown in Ritsu’s monitor.

Okano laughed when the photos of the Principal’s green hair were shown. “Please tell me the whole school has seen this!”

Mitsuko grinned. “Yeah, Class A already started circulating the photos, the whole school’s abuzz!”

Karma looked proud. “I admit I did want to shove Wasabi up his nose to _really_ finish off the collection, but Mrs Asano told me she wouldn’t be able to guarantee my safety.”

Sugaya laughed, patting him on the back. “Dude, this is more than enough!”

Rio sighed blissfully. “You gave this opportunity your all, Karma. I’m proud.”

“Too bad he made you wash his car,” Kayano said, smiling feebly. “Bet that wasn’t fun.”

“Meh.” Karma shrugged. “It was still worth it.” His smile was demonic. “Mrs Asano says I’m welcome there anytime! So I’m heading over for a sleepover in two weeks—“

“Um…guys?” Nagisa who had been mostly quiet, stood up from his desk.

Mitsuko’s smile wavered, looking over at him along with the others. “Yeah, what’s up?”

The blue-haired boy frowned, turning to face them. “There’s something I want to say…or ask…” He looked unsure, keeping his gaze low. “But, not here… can we all meet in the woods at lunch. I don’t want the teachers hearing and it’s really important.”

The rest of the class looked confused.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Sugino said, frowning.

Mitsuko felt an uneasy return, crossing her arms. “Is everything okay?”

Nagisa grimaced, his silence being a strong indicator that, _no_ , everything was not okay. 

And like that, it was back to reality. 


	61. You keep making the same mistakes

It was when they were all gathered in the woods when Nagisa told them what had been on his mind.

He wanted them to stop trying to kill Koro-sensei so they could save him instead.

Mitsuko was still feeling a mix of emotions swirl through her with two questions conflicting with one another.

_How would they save him?_

_What if they couldn’t save him time?_

Her stomach gave a twist, staring down at the floor while everyone else was talking.

There were only three months left until the clock ran out, and it had taken the better half of a year for them to even learn as much as they did about Koro-sensei in the first place.

Also even if they stopped him from exploding the government would still do everything in their power to hunt him down, he’d never be safe and how long was his lifespan anyway?

His DNA had been altered and mutated, so how much of a lifespan did he realistically have passed a year, what if he died anyway?

But he’d saved her dad, he’d saved _her_ …

He was a good teacher and if it wasn’t for him then…

She grimaced, growing sick the more she thought about how much she owed him.

Then there was the whole criminal charges and morality of him being a killer who’d probably ruined the lives of thousands—

“I really hate to be the one to spoil the mood.” Rio stepped forward, narrowing her eyes at Nagisa and the others that had gathered. “But I’m against it.”

Mitsuko tensed, frowning when she looked over at her. “Rio…”

Rio glanced at her and then grimaced, stepping further forward. “We’re assassins, he’s the target. That’s our bond,” she said firmly. “Koro-sensei said it himself, and I don’t know about you, but I cherish that bond. Not killing him would defeat the purpose.”

Nagisa’s eyes widened. “Nakamura…”

“She has a point…” Mitsuko said, sighing. “It’s the bond that drew us all together.” She frowned. “And more importantly, how are we going to save him anyway?”

He stiffened. “You’re against it too, Mitsuko?”

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably. “I…”

“Look, we get why you wanna save him,” Terasaka said, frowning. “But Mitsuko’s right, how would we even go about saving him?”

Nagisa looked unsure. “Uh…well…”

“You act like you’re the only one who’s thought about it,” Yoshida said.

“Also, what happens if the clock runs out on us before we find a way?” Muramatsu pointed out. “Have you considered that?”

Terasaka frowned. “Seriously, you want the octopuses last thoughts to be my students are a bunch of half-asses?”

“No!” Nagisa said quickly. “But we owe it to him—“

“Always the talented one.” Karma’s voice was cold, causing them all to look over at where he was leaning against a tree. “Figuring whatever the odds, in the end, things will always work out.” His smile was patronising. “Wow, listen to you, getting a tad full of yourself their, chief.”

Mitsuko’s eyes narrowed. “Karma.”

“What?” Karma smiled sweetly. “I’m just saying what most of us are thinking.” He moved off the tree and towards Nagisa. “Granted, you’re the most gifted one in our class, Nagisa-kun, but seriously? We should just up and scrap the entire assassination plan?” His eyes narrowed as he walked over. “What about the underdogs? Those of us who work ourselves sick just to sweep by on what little talent we have, how are we supposed to feel?” His voice rose. “You’re like a hot chick telling her homely friends there’s no point trying to find a man. Of course, you don’t have a problem with changing the rules, you’ve already won the game!”

Mitsuko grew on guard, stepping closer while Nagisa looked confused and shocked.

“That's not what I’m trying to say.” Nagisa lowered his gaze. “Besides, I’m not the gifted one, between you and me you’re the better assassin…”

That made Karma angrier. “Okay, hearing you talk like that just really pisses me off!”

Mitsuko stepped forward but Rio grabbed her hand. “Hey, let them talk this out.”

Mitsuko looked annoyed. “This is Karma we’re talking about since when is talking his feelings out his best forte?”

“You know what your problem is, Nagisa?” Karma snapped. “You’ve got no respect for how hard this is for everyone other than yourself!”

“Shit!” Sugaya whispered.

Mitsuko tensed. “What the hell?”

“He’s not wrong though,” Rio muttered.

“Rio!” Mitsuko stared at her in shock. “How can you say that?”

Sure, Nagisa may be clueless a little but he was just trying to do the right thing…maybe not in the best way, but at least he was being honest about his feelings.

“Whoa! Where is this coming from!?” Nagisa yelled while the rest of the class watched warily. “I’m just telling you how I feel! Do you have an axe to grind with Koro-sensei or something?!” Karma’s face scrunched up in growing rage. “He took us to the movies! He made learning fun!”

“That’s my point!” Karma shouted, making a lot of them back off. “Why do you think he bothered, huh?! He didn’t want us to end up like a bunch of whiny half-assed jerks! AND LOOK AT YOU?!”

A majority of the class winced while Nagisa’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Assassinating him is what this whole class is about! And now you’re just trying to find a loophole?” Karma glowered at him. “You want to undermine what Koro-sensei’s done?” Then his voice lowered. “Or do you have the mind and body of a ten-year-old?”

Nagisa’s head lowered as a dark look overshadowed his face.

“Oh, shit,” Mitsuko whispered, wincing.

Rio grimaced. “Damn.”

“What the hell is Karma’s problem, dude?” Sugaya whispered. “Like I get his point, but still he’s going at this really personal.”

“I noticed.” Mitsuko watched Karma’s eyes fill with rage. “I don’t know what’s up with those two but—“

Then Karma pushed Nagisa. “Got something to say?” he taunted. “Kick my ass for once and you can say whatever you like?” He pushed him again. “Aw, don’t be shy, what are you afraid of?” He kept shoving him back. “Let’s settle this like men.”

Mitsuko moved away from Rio and stepped ahead. “Karma! That’s enough!”

“Why?” Karma shoved Nagisa again. “If he’s bawling for a fight then he just needs to grow a pair and follow through!” He grabbed Nagisa’s tie. “Come on—“

Nagisa grabbed Karma’s arm and flung his legs around the boy’s neck in a chokehold.

“Oh, shit!” Mitsuko swore.

“When did Nagisa learn that move?!” Fuwa questioned.

But Karma wasn’t going down easily, pumped up on adrenaline and looking like he had enough anger in him to crush a car.

“Fucking dumbass.” Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at the red-head, feeling her own anger build. “Idiot!”

“You little!” Karma tried to hit Nagisa but Isogai and Maehara stepped into to restrain him.

“Knock it off!” Isogai yelled as he and the other tried to hold Karma back. “What are you two of you trying to prove!”

Karma growled and tried to lunge at Nagisa who was easily being held back by Sugino.

“Okay!” Maehara, dug his heels into the ground. “I-I don’t think I can hold him—“

Mitsuko stepped in and delivered a harsh elbow hit to Karma’s stomach, knocking both the three boys to the ground.

Maehara groaned, shoving Isogai off him. “Damn, Mitsuko, a little warning next time!”

Karma fell onto his knees and spat on the ground. “Fuck—what the hell, Mitsuko!?!” He glared up at her with red-tinted eyes. “What’s wrong with you?!”

Mitsuko scowled, glaring back down at him. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you, dumbass?” she snapped. “You seriously think a fist-fight is going to solve this?"

Karma's face twisted up, looking away from her with a growl. 

“A schoolyard fight!” Koro-sensei’s voice boomed. “Outstanding! However, you’re the assassination classroom!” He appeared in an army uniform, with guns in hand while smoking a pipe. “This is how we settle our differences!”

There was a beat of silence.

“WHAT KIND OF MEDIATOR ARE YOU!?” The class yelled at him.

* * *

_There were so many memories and lessons she always thought about, they’d come back at the oddest and sometimes at the worst moments. Some were more important than others._

The memory of when she received her fish back now seemed very important.

Mitsuko fidgeted in front of her father’s desk as he read through the homework and test sheets he’d assigned her to complete. It had been a week since he’d taken her Tigerfish, Dai and Osamu, from her, and she was due to start Kunugigaoka Junior High this Monday.

She rubbed at the dark circles under her eyes which she'd accumulated after days of late-night studying and anxiously worrying about her pets wellbeing. She saw her dad write something on the papers, feeling the minutes tick by slowly as she waited for his verdict on whether she was academically prepared for middle school to earn her fish back. 

She wished Gakushuu was here waiting with her, but apparently at their age, they shouldn’t be so clingy, and when dad had seen her brother hold her hand he’d even gone so far as to say they were being childish and co-dependent.

Mitsuko glared at the floor and fidgeted some more, not caring if it was weak or childish wanting to rely on her brother. She just wanted him here. 

Finally, dad stopped writing and looked down at her. “I’m satisfied with your performance.”

She sighed in relief, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her neck. “Okay, so…” She scrunched up the hem of her dress. “So where are Dai and Osamu?”

Dad stared at her blankly, as a long taunting silence stretched on. “I never said you could have them back yet.”

Her eyes watered she felt like breaking down in tears, her throat drying up. “Dad, please…”

“Answer me a question, Mitsuko,” dad continued, ignoring her distress. “If they were dead, which they may be since they haven’t been fed, what would you do?”

“W-what?” Her voice wavered. “I don’t understand—“

“If they died, what would you do?”

She stared at him in growing horror. “Dad, give them back.” Her hands curled into fists. “Stop playing games and just give them back!”

He raised an eyebrow. “And if they’re already dead?”

Something in her chest broke, shaking. “N-no, stop it, stop saying they’re…” A tear fell down her cheek. “Give me back my fish!” She slammed her fists on his desk. “Give them back!”

Her father stared at her with a cold detached look while she started to cry.

“You form such strong attachment to things.” Dad sighed, disappointed. “I asked you what would you do if they were dead and you couldn’t even answer that.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Such hysterics over something that has no real regard for you what so ever.”

“I don’t care!” she yelled at him, not caring about the consequences. “I love them! T-they’re mine. They need me!” She glared at him with wet eyes. “Now give them back! I did everything you asked!”

“Which is why I chose to take your fish in the first place,” dad said coldly. “They were a weakness easy to exploit because of how emotional you are.”

She tensed, blinking back more tears. “I…”

He stared at her for a bit longer before standing up. “You neglected your studies because of your emotional ties to Nakamura.” His tone made her cringe as he towered above her. “You were foolish because you let your feelings guide your decision and are now suffering the consequences.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, trying to reign in her tears when she felt a rush of shame.

“When you let your emotions control you, it makes you weak.” He placed a hand on her head. “Is that what you want, Mitsuko?” He bent down to her level so her gaze was locked with his. “There is a logical approach to this you aren’t seeing.” He used his thumb to wipe away a tear under her eye. “Think with your head, and sever this attachment and accept that those fish are gone.”

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, hiccupping as she tried to calm down and think.

They may have been just fish but they were her fish. They were hers to protect and if they were dead…

Her chest tightened, staring at her father who looked back expectantly, expecting an answer.

Dad would always be disappointed in her if she couldn’t control her emotions like Gakushuu could.

If they were alive he could keep doing this, using whatever she cared about as leverage to get what he wanted…

There was a sharp pain in her chest which was refusing to go away, and the thought of going through that pain again and again as more things were taken from her was terrifying. She didn’t know what she’d do if it happened too many times.

“I want to be strong,” she murmured, gripping her hands tight.

The smile on his face almost looked proud.

Her thoughts drifted to Rio’s bright smile and the fishes calming presence in her room. Those were things that wanted to see every day for as long as they’d last. Even if it meant she always had to fight to take them back if he tried to take them again.

She didn’t want to lose them, she didn’t want that pain or to even think about it!

Her gaze hardened. “But, I want Dai and Osamu back.” Her hands clenched into fists. “Give them back to me!”

His eyes narrowed in displeasure and it made her stomach churn in dread.

“I’m not giving up until you give them back!” She glared up at him, sniffling as she wiped her eyes. “And…” She nearly choked on her own words. “And if they’re dead, then I won’t believe it until I see it!”

Dad straightened up, sighing. “How disappointing.”

He grimaced and walked over to a cabinet, taking a key out of his pocket and unlocked the cabinet, revealing her fish swimming around in their tank.

But she was barely listening now, rushing over as her heart filled with joy at seeing her beloved pets. “Dai, Osamu!” She kneeled in front of the tank and smiled. “You’re safe!”

“I can’t help you if you refuse to listen, Mitsuko.” Dad stared down at her, making her flinch when she looked up and saw the dark look in his eye. “If you keep clinging to things like these, you’ll keep making the same mistakes.”

She gripped the tank tighter, refusing to let go.

* * *

“Well, Mitsuko?” Koro-sensei watched as she stood in front of the two boxes of paint; one red and one blue.

One for the kill team and one for the save team.

She swallowed thickly, staring at the paint for a long while as she tried to decide what she wanted.

She was the last one to pick, the rest of the classmates standing by the sides with their colour and weapon chosen.

_You keep making the same mistakes over and over._

“…Tell me something, Koro-sensei.” She looked up at him. “I owe you more than I can count…would I paying that debt back by saving you or killing you?”

Koro-sensei hummed. “Well, firstly I would say you don’t owe me anything, but I know that wouldn’t mean much considering your standpoint,” he said. “Honestly, if you killed me you’d be making me proud by executing all I’ve taught you, but I would still be proud of you if you chose to save me instead.” He scratched his head. “Let me think…you say you owe me a debt. Then the only way to pay it is to pay it back with honesty.”

Her brow furrowed. “Honesty?”

“I want you to be honest about what you want, how you feel and how you think,” he told her. “I want you to listen to the voice in your head which is _yours_ , not your classmates, or your fathers.”

She picked up one of the guns, staring at it. “Honestly…I don’t think we can save you.” She looked up at him. “And we’re running out of time…” Her eyes watered a little. “I don’t want to kill you.” She grimaced, gripping the gun tighter. “And even when I think about it, it hurts.”

“It’s alright to be upset about it,” Koro-sensei said quietly, placing a tentacle on her head. “If you allow your emotions to come and process, it can help relieve the pressure so you can think.”

Mitsuko grimaced, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry!”

“You don’t need to apologise for being emotional,” he said firmly. “Emotions are important. They help us understand each other and appreciate how our actions have consequences,” he comforted. “When we allow ourselves to feel and recognise how much things hurt, that’s when we can heal.”

She sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve as the sadness came down and travelled from her head to her stomach. She took a long deep breath as she contemplated the choice in front of her.

Koro-sensei was the best teacher she’d ever had, ad she wanted to hold onto what precious time they had left, and it felt like she was holding on so tight her fingers ached like it was being ripped away from her.

The pain would come, and it would be something that they all wouldn’t be able to move on from, but…maybe that was okay. Maybe the pain was good because then it made the memories of everything else better because it meant the bond they had was something…it was something that was _special_ and _important._

“You gave us a mission,” she said quietly. “That’s like a promise right?”

“…I suppose so, yes,” Koro-sensei replied.

She didn't want him to die, but they were running out of time...and they'd made a promise.

Mitsuko stared at the paint and then sighed, feeling the pain in her chest tear in like a knife. “Then there’s no running away from it.”

She picked up the red vial of paint and loaded it into the gun. 


	62. He's living on borrowed time

Mitsuko dunked her knife into the red paint as she leant against a tree.

"Mitsuko, I want you leading the attack," Karma instructed when he finished briefing Rio and walked over to her. "Just to warn you, you're probably gonna die." He smirked down at her. "Nothing personal, but I need to slash their numbers."

She rolled her eyes, standing up. "No offence taken." A small smile threatened to spread onto her face. "It kind of reminds me of Gakushuu's strategy."

A brief scowl flashed across Karma's face, but it was gone quickly. "Well, the guy's ruthless. I can respect that." Then his eyes narrowed. "Nagisa's gonna be hidden, which means his team will be strategically placed to carry individual defence and attack—so stay on guard."

Mitsuko nodded, slipping the knife into the holster. "Understood." Her brow furrowed the longer she stared at him. "But before that, be honest with me for a sec..."

"Huh?" He tensed, narrowing his gaze.

"What's the deal with you and Nagisa?" She crossed her arms. "Half the time you act like friends and then the next minute you're guarded like he's a stranger."

He frowned, looking away. "Don't know what you mean to be honest."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Look, I get it, and honestly I'm probably one of the few people in the class who understands." She grimaced. "Kids like us...we keep our guards up because it's what we've always done, kind of comes with the whole neglectful parenting." She sighed while he remained tense. "Something about Nagisa keeps you from getting too close, and I'll take a wild guess and assume it's his talent in killing?"

Karma's lips pursed, leaning against the tree next to her. "Anyone ever told you to keep your nose out of other people's business?"

Mitsuko almost laughed. "This coming from _you_?" She shook her head. "So judging by the defensiveness, I'm right on the mark, huh?" she said, sighing. "Seriously, you and my brother are way too similar sometimes. You're both emotionally constipated."

"No, I'm not!" Karma grew defensive.

She rolled her eyes. "Like I said, I get it." She frowned. "Whatever drama you and Nagisa have you can solve it yourself, but don't let it interfere with the mission." Her eyes narrowed. "And more importantly don't let it ruin the bond we all have with each other—that's just disrespectful to Koro-sensei."

Karma grimaced, lowering his gaze. "You let me worry about Nagisa." He moved off the tree. "Just focus on playing your part and winning this."

Mitsuko nodded, watching him leave. "You don't need to tell me twice." She pulled her hood up and wandered over to Kimura and the others. "Okay, guys." She smiled brightly. "Let's go kill our friends!"

* * *

Mitsuko wiped the blue paint from her visor as Hara helped her to her feet. "Kimura, Okano! I told you guys to wait up!"

Okano and Kimura looked sheepish, detangled from the trap that was set. "Sorry!"

She sighed, smiling at Hara. "Nice distraction!"

Hara grinned, backing away. "No problem. See you guys on the other side!" She yelled before disappearing into the trees.

Mitsuko smiled and waved. "Good luck." She sighed, following Kimura and Okano to where their other dead classmates would be.

_Each side are getting picked off, and Nagisa is still nowhere to be seen..._

She frowned and made her way up the hill where Koro-sensei was waiting with the others.

"So, is there any drinks in the afterlife?" She asked, sighing. "I'm sweating like a pig here!"

The others looked amused.

"No, but it's a great view," Kayano said, looking down from the cliff. "Nakamura's still in the game."

Mitsuko smiled proudly. "Of course she is, she's a badass!"

"Nagisa still hasn't shown yet," Kanzaki said, keeping her gaze below.

Mitsuko hummed, standing next to Koro-sensei and Bitch-sensei.

"I assume you had words with Karma?" Koro-sensei said, glancing at her.

"Yep." She sighed. "But he's stubborn." Her mouth twisted into a grimace. "Seriously, those two are just making it all about them. Whatever issues they have they need to deal with without drawing us all into it."

Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow. "You ain't exactly great at that yourself, kid."

Mitsuko scowled. "Regardless!" She huffed. "This is about us making a decision, and I don't want that ruined because those two idiots take it too personally."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Koro-sensei said. "As strained as their relationship is right now, Karma still has a deep respect for Nagisa's skill."

"True..." She looked down at the woods where more students were getting picked off. "Well, hopefully, they'll be smart enough to actually settle things without almost killing each other..."

* * *

Mitsuko nearly sighed in exasperation when Nagisa and Karma tried to kill each other and beat themselves bloody while the red flag was up ahead and just within reach.

"I'm gonna hit them."

Rio smirked, standing next to her in the clearing with the others. "Want me to help?"

"Yes, please," Mitsuko replied seriously, as she watched the two boys fight. "I mean, come on, are we even fighting about killing Koro-sensei right now?"

"It does seem pretty personal," Sugaya said, smiling. "But it is still two different arguments going head to head."

Rio nodded, looking serious. "Which means whatever the verdicts going to be the deciding factor."

Mitsuko winced when Karma hit Nagisa to the floor, leaving a boy a slumped mess. "Yeah, but is their friendship gonna survive it?" She grimaced. "Whatever choice we make, our bond needs to stay intact."

Karma looked down at Nagisa who had grown still, before moving to pick up the knife.

"Shit..." Rio muttered, frowning as they all watched Karma move back over to Nagisa.

Mitsuko's stomach twisted as she watched Karma raise the knife and—

Nagisa jerked upward and delivered the clap, shocking Karma backwards.

"WHOA!" Her classmates exclaimed while Karma stayed standing.

"He bit his tongue to keep from dropping!" Koro-sensei yelled.

"Well, shit!" Mitsuko stared at Karma in shock.

Nagisa pulled out the knife and lunged at Karma like a viper, the knife flying in the air for just that vital second, long enough for him to pin the boy to the ground.

"A triangle choke!" Terasaka yelled while they all gawked.

Karma fought back, struggling as Nagisa kept the tight hold around his neck.

"Man, has him pinned!" Kimura said.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Mitsuko frowned. "Karma's got the advantage of physical strength so unless Nagisa buckles down on that hold to knock him out, he'll escape."

"Yeah, but look." Rio pointed.

Karma had reached for a knife and grabbed it.

"Oh, crap!" Kayano exclaimed.

"He's got a knife!" Kimura yelled.

Mitsuko bit down hard on her tongue, waiting for Karma to deliver the blow but...but he didn't.

"What is he doing?" she questioned.

Rio frowned, looking confused as well. "I don't think he can do it."

Karma dropped the knife, causing every single one of them to inhale sharply at the sudden act of surrender.

"Did he just...?" Hazama's eyes widened.

"Yeah..." Mitsuko stared at the two boys in shock. "He did."

* * *

"Hey! Watch it!" Karma snapped when she pressed the cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol on his cheek.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, the two of them in the teacher's lounge while she helped tend to his injuries. "Wow, for a supposed badass, you don't half whine."

He whacked her hand away. "Look, I don't need your help with this." He huffed, leaning against the desk. "I've been bandaging myself up since I was ten."

"Oh, yeah, because that isn't concerning at all," she replied dryly, pressing the cloth to his cheek again.

He gritted his teeth and glared at her. "Look, just give me a few band-aids to take home and I'll be fine."

"Yeah, not happening." She applied roughly stuck a Band-Aid on his cheek. "Also, you better have a good excuse to give my mom when she asks why you're all beaten up."

"I'll just say I was in a fight, problem solved." He shrugged. "Besides most of it will be healed by the time our sleepover comes around—ow! Watch it!" He glared at her when she pressed on a cut. "I'm not afraid to knock you out just because you're a girl."

"Such a gentleman." She sighed and whacked him across the back of the head. "Keep talking like that and I'll pour this stuff in your eyes."

Karma growled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Bitch."

She smirked, dipping a fresh cloth in the alcohol again. "Look at you still all riled up from the fight—already having second thoughts?"

He grimaced and then sighed. "No. I'm not a sore loser," he replied, glancing at her. "He had me pinned against a wall." He sighed. "Guy was giving his all and willing to die just to get me to listen."

"Pretty sure his life wasn't literally on the line," she commented dryly. "But you two did put on an impressive fight and I can respect both sides for that." Her brow furrowed. "Doesn't take away the risk of not being able to save Koro-sensei in time."

His face scrunched up into a scowl. "Yeah, I know..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, I guess we can at least try to save him, and if not then it's back to the mission."

Mitsuko hummed, frowning as she dabbed an exposed cut on his arm. "Well trying to find a way to stop him from exploding would at least be a backup plan in case we can't kill him, or if anything it relieves some of the pressure."

Karma hummed, nodding. "Yeah..."

She looked at him for a moment. "...You don't think there is a way to save him do you?"

There was a long stretch of silence. "There might be a way to stop him from exploding," he said after a moment. "And anything information we can get could be useful...but the end result doesn't change, not the parts that are important anyway." His smile was grim. "Koro-sensei's living on borrowed time and he knows it."

* * *

Mitsuko sat on the edge of her windowsill as she pressed her forehead against the glass.

Then there was a knock at the door.

She sighed, already recognising the knock. "Come in."

Her dad opened the door and looked in. "You're mother said you weren't at dinner."

"Yeah, well, I don't really have an appetite," she replied, shrugging.

"...Yes, I can imagine." Dad closed the door behind him and walked over. "Mr Karasuma brief me on the most recent events." He raised an eyebrow. "Which were quite the interruption to what was supposed to be a full day of lessons."

A small smile threatened to creep on her face. "Yes, well, we're already ahead of A-Class, so I think we'll be able to catch up."

He looked faintly amused. "I suppose so." He followed her line of sight to where she was looking at the stars and the broken moon. "I understand the result of the debate wasn't what you wanted?"

She curled her knees up to her chin. "I respect the decision and it's not like I actually _want_ to kill Koro-sensei, but logically..." She sighed. "You always told me I let my feelings guide my decisions too much, and you were right."

"I see..." Dad leaned against the wall. "I admit I was surprised when Mr Karasuma told me you'd chosen to join the kill team." His gaze was curious. "It surprised me..."

Mitsuko scoffed. "Well, that's a first." She sighed. "I guess I surprised myself. I'm an emotional person, and that isn't a bad thing but that doesn't mean it's okay for me to invalidate other people's feelings with my own." She grimaced. "If I don't consider the bigger picture or take other people's feelings into account then I'll just end up hurting people." She lowered her gaze. "It isn't just about whether I want or don't want to kill Koro-sensei, it's about what's best for _all of us_ and everything he's tried to teach us..."

"Hm." Her dad stared at her for a while, as a small smile crept onto his face. "Interesting."

Mitsuko narrowed her eyes at him. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to start detaching myself like you always wanted." She scowled. "My friends make me strong, and it's not co-dependence." Her scowl deepened. "Well...at least not now."

"Fair enough." He shrugged, smiling slightly as he stared at her. "I have been giving some thought into how some attachments can be beneficial." His smile grew a little. "The strength you and your brother exhibit when around your friends is...intriguing. If anything it seems to help your growth individually."

"Wow, it really took you ten years to realise that?" she asked dryly.

His smile tightened. "Yes, well...I have my moments."

She smirked. "Yeah, I know." She looked up at the moon. "So what do you think?" she asked, earning a questioning look in response. "Do you think it's worth trying to save him?"

Her dad was quiet briefly. "Well...he is quite the teacher." He hummed, staring at the sky. "Considering the attachment you and your classmates have formed, it would strengthen your decision to kill him if you eliminated all the 'what if?' scenarios. Lessening the change of an explosion would be an intelligent choice as well."

Mitsuko nodded grimly, remembering how Karma had said something similar. "There's a 'however' though, isn't there?"

"If there is I'll keep it to myself," dad replied lightly, causing her to frown. "I'll save my final verdict for after January." He smiled softly and ruffled her hair. "I recommend you focus on the task you've all chosen to take on, and use your time wisely."

She hummed quietly, lowering her gaze as he moved away from the window. "Yeah, I guess we will."

Dad nodded and wandered towards the door. "Also, don't forget...." His smile grew taunting. "You still have Entrance Exams to study for," he told her brightly. "And I made sure to make sure this year's standards were raised so it was even harder than all the years previous!"

There was a pause as Mitsuko stared at him in disbelief for a second until a spark of outrage hit.

"What is wrong with you!!?"

His smile was wide and he made the 'OK' sign with his hand. "Good luck!"

She threw her pencil case at him as he shut the door and left. 


	63. We all need therapy at this rate

“So…?” Mitsuko said, sharing a look with the majority of the top-scoring students in the class. All of them at Karma’s house in his far too neat and modern, grey and blue, monochrome living room. “Space?”

“Yeah…” Isogai sighed. “Space.”

Karma stretched on the long pristine white sofa. “It’s not _impossible_.”

“No, but it’s still dangerous,” Isogai frowned and rubbed his chin.

Mitsuko sighed and plopped down next to Rio on the sofa. “Well, yeah, history is more than proof of that.”

Chiba hummed, kneeling in front of the glass coffee table with stacks of blank paper by his side. “There’s also the training eliminate we’d need to create so the students that go up don’t shit their pants.”

Rio laughed. “Yeah, gotta work out those kinks.”

Takebayashi hummed, standing in front of the fireplace where postcards took up the whole mantle. “Well, we need to figure out what we need first to start the plan.”

Kataoka nodded, looking over the notes Koro-sensei had given them. “And we effectively have to fast forward two years of training into two weeks.”

Ritsu hummed from her place on the laptop screen which was resting on the coffee table. “The training will be the main issue since there’s the chance the students that go could become extremely ill and ultimately die.”

“Uh…”

The others stared at her warily.

Ritsu smiled brightly. “But not to worry!” She gave them a thumbs up. “We’ll smooth that over.”

Mitsuko grimaced, evaluating the risk they were taking to get that Scientific Research Data on Koro-sensei.

Okuda frowned, looking at the further notes Koro-sensei had given them. “A lot of Koro-sensei’s notes talk about how we can prevent this.”

“Exactly,” Karma said casually, standing up to stretch. “Look, just don’t obsess over the worst-case scenario.” He smirked. “It’s not like we haven’t nearly died tonnes of times.”

Rio rolled her eyes. “Nice pep talk there, Karma.”

“Let’s try to focus here, guys,” Isogai said, rubbing his chin. “We need to think of ways of recreating the training and also analysing how we can manoeuvre around the facility.”

“We’ll need scale models to help map out the area and also understand the space station,” Takebayashi replied.

“Itona, Sugaya, and Mimura are best for that,” Mitsuko told them.

“What about the Weightless Environment Test System?” Okuda questioned. “That’s a key stage of training.”

Rio hummed, frowning. “True. We could try hanging upside down, but that’s not really the full thing. There needs to be movement.”

“We can recreate this with a wheel!” Ritsu brought up an example of a man strapped to a wheel as it rolled.

Rio grinned, snapping her fingers. “And we can recreate the acceleration by using the steepness of the mountain!”

“If we train underwater, that can help as well,” Kataoka told them.

“Yeah, we’ll need to reduce the shock of going from zero gravity to…well gravity,” Chiba said, shrugging.

“Guess space Bootcamp will be a challenge,” Mitsuko commented and then sighed. “Too bad, I can’t put it on my college application—universities love that kind of stuff!”

Rio smirked. “Don’t worry, we’ll try to find a way to re-create it in high school,” she cooed, pinching her cheek. “Promise.”

“Okay, so there is a chance a majority of us could get captured when we enter the space station,” Isogai told them. “Which means we can’t rely on training just one person for the mission.”

Mitsuko nodded. “True. We’ll need back-ups in case it’s left down to minimum students.”

“If we all go through the training regimen together then we’ll all be ready,” Okuda replied.

Karma came back into the room with a juice box, leaning against the archway. “Plus it’s more fun that way.”

Kataoka looked amused. “Because God forbid we take this seriously.”

“We’re Class E, we solve moral debates with paintball, and go into space.” Rio shrugged, smiling. “It’s just our thing.”

“Well, I’m excited!” Ritsu transformed into a spacesuit. “I get to hack a space station!” Her smile was wide. “Another step closer to world domination!”

Mitsuko grinned and high-fived her on her phone. “Science nerds will shit their pants when we take over!”

“Um, should we be concerned?” Kataoka looked nervous.

“Only if you’re on the losing side,” Takebayashi commented lightly.

She tensed up. “Wait, what?!”

* * *

Mitsuko shared a wary look with her brother as their parents sat them down in the kitchen to have the inevitable talk they’d avoided discussing for weeks now.

Mom shifted in her seat and exchanged a look with dad before clearing her throat. “I did want to wait until after your entrance exams to talk about this,” she said, fiddling with the pencil in her hand while a notebook rested underneath. “But our lawyers have said we need to get this process ut of the way quickly if we want all the paperwork done for March.”

“That’s fine,” Gakushuu replied stiffly. “I already have the paperwork for my lawsuit underway so it makes sense.”

Mitsuko almost laughed while dad sighed and shook his head.

Mom smiled faintly. “That’s true…” She sighed and moved some hair out of her face. “Well, the first thing is first.” Both their parents stared at them intently. “I’ve decided, I don’t want to live in this house anymore,” mom told them firmly, causing them to stare at her in surprise. “There’s a lot of…” She sighed deeply, avoiding their gazes. “Memories, here, which I…would rather forget.”

“Oh…” Mitsuko shifted uneasily, glancing at her brother who was frowning. “So…”

“I’m going to be working full time and get a new mortgage,” mom explained, glancing at their dad. “Your father will be staying here, which means, you both need to decide…” She fidgeted more with the pencil, not looking at them. “You need to decide who do you want to live with on a permanent basis?”

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat, holding her brother’s hand under the table. “That…that should be pretty obvious.” She felt a spark of guilt when she looked at dad. “No offence, Dad, but…”

“I completely understand,” he replied lightly, giving them a small smile which was supposed to be reassuring.

Mom nodded, letting out a deep breath like she was relieved. “Alright then. That’s fine. If you’re both in agreement then—“

“We’ll still get to see, dad, though, right?” Mitsuko spoke up quickly, feeling her stomach twist. “He’s allowed to see us for more than a day right?”

Nagisa had said his dad was only allowed to see him once a week, and only for day visits.

“…Even if it was just weekends,” Gakushuu said tightly, looking uncomfortable. “That would be…satisfactory.”

Dad’s eyes widened a fraction, staring at them. “You’d both want that?”

Mitsuko shrugged, frowning. “…Yeah.”

There was a long pause as mom and dad exchanged a look.

“Well, then, in that case…” Mom looked unsure again. “We’ll need to divide the time up so that it doesn’t interrupt your school days and clubs—“

“We’ll decide,” Gakushuu said firmly, squeezing his sister’s hand tight. “We’ll discuss it and then forward you the terms of what days work best for us.”

Mitsuko nodded. “Yeah, we’ll decide and then send you our proposed days and you can work with that.”

Dad hummed, resting his chin in his hands. “A practical arrangement. I see no major issue, granted that the time is balanced in accordance to the primary custody agreements.”

Gakushuu nodded. “Will you both consider joint physical custody?”

Dad looked at mom who frowned. “Well…we’re not completely against it,” she said stiffly. “But there are _conditions_ that would come with it.” She looked at dad pointedly. “If you two are in agreement then we’ll review it and see if it can work.”

Mitsuko nodded, trying not to feel overwhelmed. “Okay…”

“Is that everything?” her brother asked.

“Yes.” Mom sighed. “Your father and I have more to discuss in his office, so it would be best if you kids went upstairs so you can think about what you want to do.”

Mitsuko slipped her hand from her brother’s and stood up, feeling a little nausea.

* * *

Gakushuu tossed the baseball in the air, leaning back in his seat by the desk. “She’ll probably make him go to therapy.”

Mitsuko hummed in agreement, leaning against the bedpost on her brother’s bed with a pile of cushions around her. “We all need therapy at this rate.”

He snorted, tossing the ball to her. “I’m not going.”

“Like you’ll have a choice.” She shrugged, throwing the ball back at him. “Mom needs it though, she’s more likely to relapse and she’s still vulnerable.”

“True.” Her brother grimaced, tossing the ball in the air before throwing it back to her. “She might be alright for now but without dad around, things could turn ugly again.”

Mitsuko sighed tiredly, fiddling with the baseball in her hands. “Dad’s vulnerable to but he’s better at ignoring it.”

Gakushuu hummed, turning in his chair a bit. “And he can be quite the helicopter parent when he gets too carried away.”

She scoffed. “That’s true.”

“And then there is the whole court case around us trying to sue him.”

“Again, true.” She nodded, tossing him back the ball. “So, what should we do?”

He held up a notebook which had a schedule sheet of the week which was colour coded red and blue. “Blue is mom, Red is dad.” He threw the notebook onto her lap. “Dad could be Thursday to Saturday night.”

Mitsuko looked over the schedule. “What about the holidays?”

“It’ll have to be alternated,” he replied, shrugging. “One year we could spend Christmas with mom while dad gets our birthday.”

She nodded, turning the page to see the details on the holidays. “It could work, but we’ll need to cut down on our clubs if we’re doing changeover on Saturday night.” She frowned. “Unless we just make sure we organise that the stuff we need is in the correct house on the right day.”

“Last minute changes could disrupt that though,” Gakushuu argued.

“Yeah, true.” Mitsuko stared at the schedule for a while, feeling something painful twist in her chest. “It’ll be weird…” She gripped the notebook tight. “Don’t you think? With how much is going to change?”

Her brother was quiet for a while, placing the baseball on the desk. “…It will be an adjustment.” His brow furrowed faintly before he stood up and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to her with the cushions. “But we’ll just adapt like we always have.”

She grimaced, looking down. “Yeah…”

Gakushuu frowned faintly before he hesitantly wrapped an arm around. “We’ll be fine.”

Mitsuko rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I know but…” She smiled grimly. “Even if it’s not real…these last few weeks have been nice, like how normal families feel.” She picked at some stray thread on her jumper sleeve. “…I guess, I just started getting used to it.”

Her brother stayed silent for a long while. “…It has been somewhat enjoyable.” He made a face. “Even with Akabane’s interference.”

She gave a broken chuckle. “It was funny.”

“Maybe for you.” He scowled, making her laugh again.

She smiled slyly. “I seem to remember you laughing at least more than once.”

He shrugged dismissively. “Seeing the Principal suffer is amusing.”

Her smile grew. “Yeah, true.”

She let out a deep breath. “I think I’m just scared of not knowing what the futures like.” She grimaced. “I like how mom and dad are now, and I don’t want them to go back to how they used to be…”

Gakushuu hummed softly. “Well, it’s true mom might relapse and dad may give up trying to be fatherly…so it’s something we have to monitor.” He sighed. “They seem to be at least showing improvement each day.” He wrinkled his nose. “I think dad even tried to hug me yesterday…”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Dad tried to hug you?!”

He shrugged. “I think so, it was hard to tell since he made a strange reaching out movement but then stopped and pulled away.” He rolled his eyes. “I thought he was having a seizure at first.”

She chuckled. “He just has no idea what he’s doing,” she told him. “He’s scared you’ll push him away or something, or that he’ll just make you angry.”

“Yes, I figured.” Gakushuu shrugged. “It would be extremely awkward.” He scrunched his nose in disgust. “Physical affection is annoying.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re practically hugging me right now.”

His scowl deepened, but he kept his arm around her shoulder. “That’s different. You’re my little sister, I don’t have to worry about you breaking me in two when we hug.”

“Dad isn’t going to crush you if he hugs you, Gakushuu,” she said, frowning. “It’s a hug. He’s not trying to hurt you.”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed, looking away. “Yes, well sometimes he doesn’t know his own strength…”

Mitsuko felt a rise of concern. “That sounds…do you wanna talk about it?”

“No.” He grew guarded again, pulling his arm away. “It doesn’t matter.”

She frowned. “It does matter if we’re going to be living with him three days of the week without mom around—lawyers ask about this stuff, and they can even bring in child therapists to make you talk about it.”

Her brother stayed quiet for a while, crossing his legs on the bed while she waited. “…He broke Kevin’s arm before he kicked him in the stomach,” he muttered, staring at his socks. “I heard it. He broke a few of the others bones as well.” He made a motion with his hands. “Sang’s jaw gotten broken on the desk.” His shoulders hunched up, keeping his gaze low. “He wouldn’t stop kicking Jose and Camille…”

Mitsuko grimaced, closing her eyes when she remembered all the blood on the floor and walls. “I can imagine…”

He shrugged. “I keep thinking of that sometimes—he could break my wrist if he wanted to, or dislocate my shoulder with barely even trying…or by accident.” He touched his shoulder, frowning. “When he broke Jose’s shoulder all he had to do was dig his finger in hard enough and the bone just cracked.” He clenched his hand into a fist. “So I can’t say I exactly like it when he shows physical affection…”

She felt some vomit threaten to curl up her throat. “…Have you tried telling dad about…well, not feeling comfortable with physical affection yet?”

“No…” He muttered, half-shrugging. “It’s not an issue, it’s just a minor annoyance.”

She frowned. “You should tell people if you feel uncomfortable with them touching you,” she told him worriedly. “Ko—my teacher always says that if someone touches us, whether it’s a hug or anything, and it makes us feel uncomfortable then we should say something.”

Gakushuu grimaced. “Your teacher’s a hippy…”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s still good advice! He gives us lots of head-pats and can get a little in our faces sometimes, so he tells us we have to be honest if it makes us uncomfortable or upset.”

She remembered briefly when Koro-sensei had gotten flustered and panicked when Chiba had said the odd hugs Koro-sensei would sometimes give made him feel uncomfortable; the octopus had sent twenty minutes crying and apologising until finally calming down.

“It’s fine, I’ll get over it,” he said, frowning.

Mitsuko sighed. “That’s not reassuring, Gaku-nii.”

He shrugged. “It’ll be fine.” His brow creased. “It’s not like I’m a girl…”

She whacked him over the head. “Seriously?!”

“Will you stop that!” he snapped, rubbing the back of his head. “I just mean it’s different when you’re a boy—it’d be embarrassing to complain about feeling uncomfortable for something minor like that.”

“That’s ridiculous!” She crossed her arms. “And makes no sense whatsoever—if you don’t tell dad then I will.”

“No.” His voice sharpened, frowning at her. “Look, I understand you’re concerned but can we just drop it already?” His frown deepened. “…Please?”

Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms. “Hm…fine.” She huffed, tossing a pillow at his head. “But you should tell him eventually.”

“I will.” He didn’t sound convincing. “Eventually…”

* * *

“Please don’t be dead!” Mitsuko muttered under her breath as she watched the capsule come down. “Please don’t be dead!”

Rio clapped her on the back. “Hey, worst case we’ll give them a nice funeral.”

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING, RIO!” Mitsuko yelled.

Rio shrugged. “Hey, I’m just saying—”

“Incoming!” Sugino pointed at the sky as the capsule came down and hit the lake on the mountain, causing a wave to splash against the rocks.

Ritsu smiled and popped up on Mitsuko’s phone. “I can confirm a successful landing!” She clapped her hands. “Both pilots are safely home!”

“Yes!” Maehara cheered, cheering along with the rest of the class.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Koro-sensei looked like he’d have a heart attack.

The class looked relieved as Karma and Nagisa emerged from the capsule and waved at them.

Takebayashi smirked, pushing up his glasses. “Well, no one died.”

“Good planning, guys,” Isogai praised.

Mitsuko followed the others down towards the lake. “So, how was space?” she asked when Karma and Nagisa stepped into the shallow part of the water.

Nagisa smiled. “Pretty fun—the astronauts were nice.”

“And gullible,” Karma remarked.

“How do you feel?” Sugino asked, looking them both over.

Maehara grinned, placing a hand on Karma’s shoulder. “If you’re gonna vomit, just say and get it out of the way.”

“But if you start coughing up blood at both ends, you might wanna go to the hospital,” Rio reminded them.

Karma smirked. “Yeah, I know.” He shared an amused look with Nagisa. “But I think we’re good.”

Nagisa smiled. “Yeah, it’s good to be back.”

Mitsuko looked amused, and then looked over her shoulder and tensed. “Uh…oh…”

Mr Karasuma and Bitch-sensei were talking to a flustered looking Koro-sensei.

“Oh, yeah…” Rio realised what she was looking at and grimaced. “Uh, oh.”

“Wasn’t one of us meant to be keeping watch to make sure they don’t see?” Sugaya questioned.

“Yeah, Okajima, you were meant to be keeping a lookout!” Okano exclaimed.

Okajima stiffened. “I thought Kimura was doing it?”

“What?! No, Kataoka said it was Itona!”

Itona shrugged. “It was, but I got bored and wanted to see the capsule land.”

They all turned to look at him in disbelief.

Itona shrugged again, taking a photo of the capsule on his camera. “Now do you mind getting out of shot so I can take some good pictures?”

They all gave a frustrated scream.

* * *

The Principal stared at the capsule in the water for a long moment.

The sun was nearly setting, casting deep oranges on the giant metal capsule. 

Mitsuko stood behind him next to Mr Karasuma and Koro-sensei, waiting for his reaction.

“…So, just to be clear, Koro-sensei,” her dad said coldly, causing Koro-sensei to yelp. “You encouraged and orchestrated a group of minors to break into the government space station, steal highly confidential information, and then risked two students lives by hurling them into space without proper training?”

There was a long pause.

“U-uh…” Koro-sensei shakily held up his phone. “Y-yes, but we captured such valuable data! The Japanese space programme will benefit greatly!”

Mitsuko buried her face in her palm. “Oh, God…”

Dad slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at them; a dark look cast over his face. “I see…” Then he smiled politely. “Well, I suppose that means everything is perfectly fine then!”

A brief flash of hope appeared on Koro-sensei’s face. “ _Really?!”_

The smile vanished as the dark glare returned. “No.”

Koro-sensei deflated. “Oh…”

Dad narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m docking your pay again.”

“NO!” Koro-sensei sobbed on the ground. “I can’t survive like this…”

Mitsuko grimaced. “Tough luck, sir.”

“Also, Mitsuko, you’re grounded for two weeks,” dad said sternly. “Don’t expect to leave the house or use your laptop.”

“WHAT?!” She looked outraged. “What did I do?”

Dad raised an eyebrow. “Besides helping plot this operation and breaking into a classified government area?”

Mitsuko scowled. “…Everyone else broke in as well…”

Karasuma sighed. “We’ll pay for the damages and have the capsule removed—on behalf of the government, we apologise for the trouble caused.”

Dad hummed. “See that it’s dealt with quickly,” dad said firmly, clasping his hands behind his back as he turned away from the scene. “Mitsuko, let’s go. You can explain to your mother why we were late home.”

“What?! Oh, come on, do we really have to tell her?!” she complained.

Dad carried on walking passed her. “If you didn’t want to get in trouble you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

Mitsuko stamped her foot. “But none of the others are in trouble!” She hurried to catch up with him. “Dad, come on! It’s not fair!”

“Keep complaining and I’ll ground you for a month,” dad replied dismissively.

Koro-sensei crawled after the Principal. “Please! Don’t cut my salary again!” He sobbed harder while the Principal ignored him. “I’M BEGGING YOU!”

Karasuma sighed and buried his face in his hand. “I don’t get paid enough for this…” 


	64. Absolutely Fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Two updates in one-day peeps! I had this chapter written up for a good two weeks so I've been dying to post it since I'll be busy all evening tomorrow. 

* * *

With them all agreement to carry on trying to kill Koro-sensei, the training had intensified since they were now in February.

But, something even more important was taking precedence.

Mitsuko whacked her rule against the whiteboard. “Entrance exams are upon us, people!” She grinned at the group of Class A who had opted to attend her study session in the Main Campus Library after school. “So make sure to review what we’ve gone through today!”

There were around twenty students all sat around a large table with piles of books between them in the private study room they’d booked out.

“Hey, don’t be so loud,” Seo complained, glaring at her.

She walked over and whacked him over the head with the ruler. “Don’t disrespect your sensei!”

“Shit!” Seo swore, rubbing his head. “Fuck you!”

“If you don’t like it, leave!” Mitsuko smiled sweetly at the others.

Ren grinned from opposite the table. “Yeah, don’t be disrespectful, Seo!” he teased. “You might get sent to the corner.”

“Shut up!” Seo complained while Koyama and the others laughed.

Mitsuko grinned, turning back to the rest to them.“Anyway, let’s all try our hardest, okay?”

“Right!” Class A replied in unison, smiling at her.

Satsuki raised her hand. “Can you email us over your notes on the Turkish Straits Crisis?”

“Yeah, sure,” Mitsuko replied. “I’ll share them on the cloud drive.”

“Nice!” Hashizume smiled. “Thanks!”

“No problem, we’re all gonna have to pull overtime to pass the new standards my dad set for the entrance exams,” Mitsuko said, smiling grimly. “Anyway, good luck for next week everyone.”

There were replies of agreement as everyone started to grab their books and bags.

Seo grumbled under his breath, gathering his books. “I swear if I fail…”

Mitsuko tapped her ruler in her palm threateningly. “Hey, I can only do the best I can do, Seo.” She shrugged innocently. “If you’re too stupid to understand then you probably should transfer back to the States just to save face.”

“Screw you!” he snapped.

She smirked, watching him grab his bag with a huff.

“Uh…Mitsuko…”

When she turned around Juba was standing there shyly with his hands behind his back.

“Oh, hey, Juba.” She smiled at him pleasantly. “Everything okay?”

“U-uh, yeah…” He blushed, ducking his head. “I just…” He presented a box of chocolates. “Happy valentine's day!”

Her eyes widened. “Uh…”

“Um, I know it’s still a week or so away, but since we won’t see you until after…” He hurriedly explained, looking embarrassed. “It’s just to say thank you for helping me— _us_! Study!”

“Oh.” She took the box of chocolates and smiled. “Well, thanks, Juba, this is really—“

“A box of chocolates is that it?!” Ren floated over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, shoving Juba out of the way. “Our dear little friend offers you an insult, sweet maiden.” He cooed, presenting a red rose in her face. “As we lead up to this day of love—“

“Ren, fuck off.” She shoved his face away from her when he got to close. “You’re being a creep.”

“Hey!” Ren looked offended, clutching his face. “I was being _charming_!” His rose drooped.

“Yeah, with a second-hand rose you probably passed around to all the girls in the third year,” Mitsuko replied dismissively.

Ren scowled. “You’re mean.”

“Um…” Juba looked trapped on the spot, looking back and forth between them.

Mitsuko smiled warmly at him. “I really like your gift, Juba.” She touched his shoulder, making him blush more. “It’s really nice of you, thank you.”

His face turned bright red as his glasses fogged up. “Um, i-it’s f-fine!”

“Why are you nice to him and not me!?” Ren complained.

She huffed. “Because he isn’t a try-hard.”

Her words stabbed him in the chest. “Ugh!”

“Anyway.” Juba’s face was bright red now. “G-good luck with the entrance exams!” Then he bowed and ran off.

Mitsuko smiled in amusement. “Aw, how sweet.”

Ren huffed, crossing his arms. “They’re just chocolates.”

She smirked and slipped the chocolates into her bag. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Ren.”

Ren looked amused. “Pfft. As if.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Why get jealous over one girl when I have more than a dozen to choose from.”

She rolled her eyes and wiped the whiteboard clean with a cloth. “If you say so.”

He smirked. “Hey, I’m not like Nakamura.” Then his smirk grew, resting an arm against the whiteboard. “So, do you two have any plans for the day of love?”

Mitsuko’s smirk wavered. “No…” She shrugged uncomfortably when Ren frowned. “Rio thinks the whole thing is bullshit so we decided not to do anything besides trading chocolate.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So you’re not even gonna go on a date?”

“No.”She felt something tighten in her chest, but she ignored it. “Which is fine.”

Ren’s brow furrowed. “It doesn’t sound like you think it’s fine…”

Mitsuko sighed, putting the cloth down when the board was clean. “Look, if Rio doesn’t want to make Valentine's day a big deal then it’s fine,” she insisted. “I’m happy just spending some time with her and enjoying chocolates…”

_It wasn’t a total lie…_

“Right, sure.” Ren rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever, you guys do whatever you want.” He handed her the rose. “But I still think she should at least try to make something special out of it.”

Mitsuko frowned, clutching the rose carefully so the thorns didn’t stab her.

"Whatever..." She scowled, stuffing the rose in her bag. "I have a dinner to get to..."

* * *

One thing Mitsuko had found mind-blowing when she’d first seen the Nakamura’s house when she was a child had been how weirdly comfy is was. Not in a cramped sense, but more in a way that everything just seemed more relaxed.

It was a tidy home, but it wasn’t obsessively pristine like the Asano residence which seemed to constantly look like a showhome.

_The Nakumura’s residence had personality._

For one thing in their dining room, there were maps pinned with different places the family had visited, along with souvenirs decorating different parts of the dressers. There was also lots of artwork that Mrs Nakamura did as a hobby, with tie-dye rugs pinned to the wall like paintings, and also joke text hung up.

Like how one sign was hung up on the bathroom door saying, ‘If you run out of toilet paper just scream!’.

_It was so strange!_

The walls were bright as well but with taste, with the hallway being a light green to compliment the dark wooden floor, and the dining room walls painted a sea blue to compliment the lighter tones of the room.

Mitsuko smiled when she saw they’d added more cool pictures in the dining room since she’d last been. She was sat in-between her mom and brother, with her dad at the end next to Gakushuu.

Mr and Mrs Nakamura were opposite them next to their daughter and wouldn’t stop talking while Rio kept sighing loudly at each of their comments.

“So, then apparently they both got stuck trying to climb the alps and that was only their fourth date!” Mrs Nakamura recounted one of her son’s adventures with his wife before the marriage; her brown hair had grown longer since she’d last seen her, and she was wearing beaded jewellery, including an extra piercing in her ear which Mom wouldn’t stop looking at. “They nearly froze to death so they had to share a sleeping bag.”

Their dad and mom exchanged a look before smiling politely.

“How…cosy,” mom said unsurely.

“That’s one word for it.” Mr Nakamura said brightly, he was a stocky man with light brown hair and always laughed loudly at random jokes. “No, going off to the alps, girls!” He nudged his daughter. “I already had to help pay for one wedding already.”

Mom nearly choked on her noodles, earning a confused look from the Nakamuras. “My apologies…” She quickly wiped her mouth. “I think there’s too much spice in—“

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Mrs Nakamura looked sheepish. “Would you like a coffee or tea to help?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” mom said quickly, wiping her mouth.

The other woman picked up the bottle of wine on the table. “Are you sure, I can get some wine—“

“No!” Mom’s voice rose, surprising them. “Um…” She smiled quickly. “No, thank you. I’m fine. _Really_.”

“Oh, well, okay,” Mrs Nakamura replied, shrugging.

“I’m telling you, it was a bit of a relief when Rio told us she was into girls. ”Rio’s dad laughed. “I thought _yes_! No teen pregnancy, we’re safe!”

Rio rolled her eyes. “Seriously, dad. Stop telling that joke!”

Mr Nakamura grinned. “But it’s funny!”

“No, it’s not!” Rio argued.

Mom gave a nervous laugh, forcing a smile. “I suppose it is a little…” She fidgeted slightly. “Of course that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some risks…”

Mitsuko groaned. “Mom…”

“I’m just saying,” mom replied defensively, frowning.

“I don’t think we have much to worry about.” Mrs Nakamura waved her hand dismissively. “There’s still the need for protection but—“

“Anyway, how have you both been?” Mom quickly interrupted. “Nakamura mentioned that you were learning Mandarin?”

Mrs Nakamura smiled sheepishly. “Yes, it’s going well, but I have been slacking a little.”

Dad seemed to find that amusing. ‘It can be a difficult language to master at first,’ he spoke in Northern Mandarin perfectly; Mitsuko rolled her eyes.

“Oh!” Mrs Nakamura’s eyes widened. “You know it too?” She grinned. “Wonderful! I need a speaking partner to help with my accent. I have a few friends from the south mainland of China but they mainly speak Cantonese…”

“Gakushuu and Mitsuko are learning it,” dad told her lightly. “But unfortunately Mitsuko’s fallen behind with it in the last year.”

Mitsuko blushed. “No, I haven’t!” She glared at him. “I’m just out of practice, but my recall isn’t that bad.”

Mrs Nakamura looked pleased, clapping her hands. “Then we can catch-up together.”

“Uh…” Mitsuko wasn’t sure what she was getting roped into.

Rio sighed. “Mom, Mitsuko doesn’t want to learn Mandarin with you. It’s weird.” She shook her head. “She’s just too polite to say no.”

Mrs Nakamura scowled at her daughter. “That’s not true.” She crossed her arms. “And what’s weird about hanging out with my daughter’s girlfriend?”

Rio shrugged, slurping her noodles. “Kind of reeks of desperation.”

“No, it doesn’t!” Rio’s mom looked annoyed. “Don’t be such a brat!”

Rio shrugged again. “Stop trying to scare off my girlfriend then.”

Mitsuko looked sheepish. “Uh…” She raised her hands. “Honestly I’m happy to help!”

Mrs Nakamura sighed. ”It’s alright, Mitsuko, you don’t need to lie.” She huffed. “It’s not your fault my daughter is mean to the woman who laboured for her day and night.”

“Mom, it was a eight-hour labour, stop exaggerating!”

“You, see.” Mrs Nakamura said, making Mitsuko laugh. “Kids today…” She smiled at Mitsuko’s parents. “You two don’t know how good you have it.”

Rio scowled at her. “Wow, thanks, mom. Just disown me right here why don’t you?”

Mrs Nakamura smirked. “Don’t be silly. I’d wait a week at least.”

Mom’s smile slowly became genuine, patting Mitsuko on the head. “Yes. We are lucky…” She kissed her daughter on the head, making her blush. “They’re more than we deserve. We’re both very proud.”

Mitsuko smiled faintly, feeling a warm glow at the praise. “Heh, thanks, mom.”

Mom smiled sweetly. “I know it’s not polite to brag but they really are gifted. Mitsuko’s already helped tutor her friends for Entrance Exams.” Mom patted her son on the head. “And Gakushuu’s going to graduate valedictorian.”

Mrs Nakamura’s eyes widened. “Oh, that’s amazing.”

“Oh, yes, it really is quite something,” dad said, smiling. “Of course, it’s not a surprise. The two of them have already picked out what clubs they’ll be joining in high school, and we’ve been doing tours of more universities.”

Mr Nakamura chuckled. “Wow, that’s really—“

“Gakushuu is up for an award for the city youth political movement as well,” dad continued to boast like he was on a roll. “He’ll be the youngest member in twenty years to receive it.”

Both Mitsuko and her brother exchanged a look when they realised where this was heading.

“That’s fantastic,” Mrs Nakamura nodded along.

Dad smiled pleasantly. “Yes, but there’s still future goals we’ll need to work on of course,” he kept on going, causing Mitsuko to grow red in the face. “Gakushuu has plans to open a tech business in the future, which really will do wonders for society—what was your goal for the first annual quarter, son?”

“500 Million,” Gakushuu replied promptly, shrugging as he ate.

Dad hummed. “You could aim higher,” he remarked, making Mr Nakamura nearly choke on a piece of shrimp. “To gain a monopoly on the technological field would create so many opportunities, and it’s never too early to start outlining goals.” He smiled at his daughter. “Mitsuko is already looking at organising a whole city charity event for this Christmas. Isn’t that right, Mitsuko?”

“Uh, well yeah…” Mitsuko sunk low in her seat. “But it’s not really that big of a deal—can someone pass the butter?”

“She’s so humble it's almost embarrassing,” Dad chuckled, sipping his wine. “She came up with the idea of reducing wasted food near the holidays with local restaurants and supermarkets. It’s quite wonderful, but of course, that’s expected,” he said while the Nakamuras started to look overwhelmed by all the boasting. “She’s going into PR and events management, which of course I was cautious of at first—“

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. “Dad…”

“—But once she outlined the clear positives it really opened my eyes to the possibilities,” dad continued without missing a beat. “She’s so diligent and compassionate for those underprivileged, which is the perfect profile to promote charity work, which if she expands on could globally help reduce world hunger—“

“Dad, I think—“

“—For instance the Nobel Peace prize would be a wonderful goal and quite realistic to achieve if she sets her mind on it—“

“Can someone please pass the butter!” Mitsuko interrupted, her cheeks heated from embarrassment. “Please!”

Rio wouldn’t stop smirking. “Here.” She passed the butter to her. “So the Nobel Peace prize, huh?”

Mitsuko tried to kick her under the table but missed.

“Uh…” Mr Nakamura looked overwhelmed. “Those are some…high ambitions.”

Dad smiled cheerfully. “A mind needs regularly sharpening, especially at this key developmental stage of their lives.” He patted his son on the shoulder, not noticing the grimace on the boy’s face. “The bar needs to set high so there is room to grow.”

Mr Nakamura gave a nervous laugh. “Well, I’ll just be happy so long as Rio tries her best at whatever she does.” He smiled at his daughter warmly and ruffled her hair, gaining a smile from her. “She’s a genius, and she knows it!”

Rio grinned, baring teeth. “I am pretty amazing.”

Mr Nakamura smiled at Mr Asano. “I’m sure so long as the kids are happy, they’ll be fine in whatever they do.”

Dad frowned faintly, and then hummed, raising an eyebrow. “I suppose that’s one way at looking at it.” He glanced down at his children who were looking up at him curiously. “I have realised happiness is…important.” He drank some of his drink while his children stared at him in surprise. “Which is why it makes sense that accomplishing high goals creates an abundance of happiness!”

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation. “Can we please talk about something else?!”

“Well…” Mrs Nakamura smirked. “What are you girls plans for Valentine's day next week?”

“Mom!” Rio yelled.

“What, can’t a mother ask?”

Mitsuko blushed, ducking her head when her parents and brother all looked at her. “Uh…”

“Mitsuko and I don’t buy into that corporate crap.” Rio scoffed. “We’re not going to bother.”

“Not even for White day?” Mr Nakamura frowned at his daughter. “Come on sweetie, this your girlfriend. You need to put in some effort.”

“Dad!” Rio scowled at him.

“We’re not really doing much for Valentine's day,” Mitsuko said shyly.

Dad’s eyes narrowed at Rio. “Not even flowers?”

Rio looked pinned under his glare. “Uh…”

Mitsuko shot her dad a look. “Dad, it’s not a big deal…”

She tried not to think about what Ren had said earlier because honestly, it was fine if her girlfriend didn't want to make the day special. _Absolutely fine. Yes._

“It’s important for partners to show their appreciation to their other half,” dad said sternly, shooting a displeased look at Rio. “I would expect your girlfriend to put in the effort, Mitsuko.”

_Oh, great, here we go…_

Mr Nakamura shared a frown with his wife. “Not sure what you’re trying to say, Asano?” He gave the Principal a stern look. “I think my daughter is doing a great job.”

“Oh, yes of course.” Dad smiled pleasantly. “Forgive me, but you know how it is with daughters.” He placed a hand on Mitsuko’s head. “Perhaps I expect too much from people, but I would _expect_ Mitsuko to receive a whole assortment of gifts from her love interest. A father likes to know his child is being properly appreciated by their partner.” He smiled crookedly at Rio who was glaring. “And treated to a certain standard of living.”

“Dad!” Mitsuko looked annoyed at him.

Dad looked unapologetic, smiling at her like it was all a light-hearted joke. “I’m just saying—“

“I actually do have something planned!” Rio glared at the Principal. “So thanks for spoiling the surprise, sir!”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened. “Wait, you have something planned?”

Rio stiffened. “Um, yeah.” She smiled anxiously. “Obviously! I mean, you’re my girlfriend.” She shifted in her chair. “I have a super amazing surprise planned for you…”

Mitsuko felt a swell of excitement. “Really?”

“Yes, _really_ , Nakamura?” Gakushuu asked lightly.

“Yes!” Rio scowled, making Mitsuko frown faintly.

_She could just be lying to get my parents off her back…_

Her brother arched a brow. “So, how long have you been planning this surprise?”

“Weeks actually.” Rio crossed her arms. “And what’s with the tone? Do you think I’m lying or something?”

Gakushuu smiled sweetly. “No, of course not.” He sipped his water. “That would be dishonest of you, and dishonesty is not a good foundation for a relationship.”

“I’m not lying,” Rio said firmly, smiling at Mitsuko. “I have a really big surprise planned, and you’re going to love it.”

Mitsuko felt some of her doubts fade as she started to smile shyly. “You don’t have to…”

“Yes, I do.” Rio reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “You’re my girlfriend, you deserve all the best treatment there is.” She glared at the Principal. “And I’m more than capable of giving you it.”

“Rio…” Mitsuko’s smile grew, holding her hand tighter as she felt like gushing.

_My girlfriend is so sweet and kind!_

“Aw! Just look at you two!” Mrs Nakamura snapped a picture on her phone.

Rio’s cheeks were red, letting go of her Mitsuko’s hand. “Mom!”

The Principal smirked, dabbing his mouth with a napkin after eating some more food. “Well, that sounds wonderful and I look forward to hearing all about it.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you will,” Rio said firmly, crossing her arms. “Just wait and see.”

* * *

Mitsuko couldn’t stop smiling as she sat on the sofa waiting for Rio to arrive for their Valentine's date. She was meant to be arriving at 6 PM to take her somewhere and her parents had even said it was okay to give the curfew some leeway for once.

Rio had been tight-lipped about the whole thing, but she’d promised it was going to be fantastic and told her to dress nice but the reiterated that they weren’t going somewhere too expensive.

No matter what it would be it was still exciting that she was going to so much effort!

“Stay still.” Mom helped her apply the lipstick. “Remember, if you’re going to re-apply just use a light layer.” She rolled down the lipstick tube and put it in her hand. “It’s a pale shade so you don’t want to put too much on.”

“Yes, I know,” Mitsuko replied impatiently, putting the lipstick in her glittery handbag, wanting to wait by the window.

Dad was sat in the armchair and scowled when he looked at the time on his watch. “She’s five minutes late.”

“There’s probably traffic.” Mitsuko smoothed down her black skirt and hurried over to the box of chocolates she’d gotten Rio which she’s left by the bookcase. “Stop being so mean to her, dad, she’s trying her best.”

Dad hummed, raising an eyebrow. “You think this is her best?”

She rolled her eyes and anxiously watched the seconds tick by on the clock.

“As long as you have fun it’ll be fine.” Mom smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “Just remember to be safe.”

“I’ve been on a date before, mom,” Mitsuko reminded her.

“Yes, but the two of you will alone in the city together at night…” Mom frowned and then looked around quickly beforehand her a tube of something. “If some weird gentlemen try to cause trouble just spray them with this.”

Mitsuko looked confused for a second until she opened her hand and saw that her mom had given her pepper spray. “Mom!?”

“It’s not assault if it’s in defence,” mom whispered sternly.

She gawked at her until the doorbell rang and she quickly stuffed the pepper spray in her bag. “Nevermind.” She smoothed down her hair and walked over to the door, opening it.

Rio looked out of breath, carrying a large set of roses and a present bag. It was the first time Mitsuko had seen her in a dress, which was a pale blue that she was wearing over a black cropped jumper; she was even wearing eyeliner and blusher. “Sorry!” She laughed nervously. “Lost track of time.” Mom and dad came to peer in curiously, Rio scowled faintly when she saw the sudden audience. “Um, these are yours.”

Mitsuko smiled at the roses. “Wow!” She blushed when she held up the box of chocolates. “I only got you chocolates, sorry…”

Rio grinned, stepping into the house properly. “Nothing wrong with free chocolate.” She took them from her and handed over the gift. “They look expensive…”

Mitsuko smiled, smelling the roses, before looking inside the present bag. “Oh, wow…” Inside was stuffed with heart-shaped chocolates, a stuffed monkey with a heart, glitter, and perfume.

“Hm.” Dad looked intrigued, looking over her shoulder. “A designer brand…”

Rio smirked. “Well, of course.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I know how to treat my girlfriend like _a queen.”_

Dad raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.

“Um…” Mitsuko looked embarrassed. “This…this is _a lot_ , Rio, you didn’t have to get me all this.”

“Don’t say that!” Rio stuffed her chocolates in her large leather bag. “I spent it on you because I wanted to.”

Mitsuko smiled warmly, burying her nose in the roses again. “Well, it’s sweet…”

“I think I’m going to vomit.” Gakushuu was leaning against the stair bannister half-way up the stairway.

Rio scoffed. “Jealous much!”

“Go away, Gakushuu!” Mitsuko said, scowling at him.

Mom seemed to find it funny and gently took the roses. “Let me put these in some water, then you can keep them in your room.” She smiled at the flowers, sniffing them before heading off to the kitchen.

“Thanks, mom!” Mitsuko nodded, placing the present bag on the side table near the stairs. “So where are we going?”

“Uh, that would spoil the surprise,” Rio said, rubbing the back of her head. “My mom’s gonna drop us off at the train station so we can get a train into the city.” She winked. “And that’s all you need to know!”

She smiled excitedly and adjusted her bag over her shoulder as dad passed her autumn coat. “Okay, it sounds fun.”

“Of course,” Rio said confidently. “It’s gonna be great.” She grinned at Gakushuu and the Principal. “The best night of your life!”

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow, walking down the rest of the stairs. “I somehow doubt that,” he remarked, and then smiled sweetly at Rio, placing a hand on her shoulder. “After all, house rules still apply on dates and we’re all _trusting_ you both to abide by that.” His nails dug into her shoulder, making the girl grit her teeth and glare. “It would be a shame if that _trust_ was broken.”

Dad chuckled hollowly and clamped his hand on Rio’s other shoulder. “Yes, broken trust is hard to earn back.”

Rio looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. “Uh—?”

“Anyway!” Mitsuko quickly dragged her girlfriend away from her dad and brother. “We better get going!” She pulled Rio out of the door. “We won’t stay out too long, bye!”


	65. Your dad’s gonna kill me, isn’t he?

The first place Rio was leading her to was the street food area where the smell was delicious and overpowering.

“So…I did try to book a restaurant.” Rio gave a strained laugh. “But everywhere was booked up…”

“It’s okay.” Mitsuko smiled and held her hand as they walked along the street. “Street food is way tastier anyway.”

Rio grinned. “I know right!”

The street stalls were lit up with colourful pink lights and were full of families and couples going to and from different stalls.

Mitsuko looked around eagerly for the Crepe stall. “Can we get a crepe first? I haven’t had one in months!”

“Yeah, sure.” Rio squeezed her hand as they walked into the crowd to find the right stall.

When they found one there was a crowd already surrounding it, but Rio edged in, pushing one girl out of the way so they could see the menu and get to the front.

A man who was wearing a stained apron looked over at them. “Hey! What do you girls want?”

Mitsuko smiled, clutching her cheeks as she stared at the flavours on the menu. “I’ll get strawberries and cream!”

Rio hummed, rubbing her chin as she eyed the menu. “I’ll go with…blueberries and banana!”

“Ok.” The man said, picking up the tub of batter on the side.

Mitsuko looked around the crowded fair. “We can try to find somewhere to sit,” she said as the thin pancakes were being made. “I think there’s a fountain nearby. We could sit there.”

“Yeah, we can…” Rio scowled when one girl shoved passed her when she got her crepe. “If there’s any room.”

“We’ll find a space, don’t worry.” Mitsuko grinned. “Or worst case we’ll just scare some people off ad steal their spot!”

The other girl laughed. “I like the way you think.”

When they got their crepes they made their way through the crowd to find some seats.

“So what do you want to do after this?” Mitsuko asked as her girlfriend held her hand and lead her through the crowd.

“That’s a surprise!” Rio insisted.

She smiled in amusement. “Well, if you say so.”

They found a small spot near some make-shift benches which had been set up for the event, where a line of people was already sat eating. There were a lot of couples there, so they sat near the end next to another couple who were snuggled together.

Mitsuko ate her crepe, admiring the heart-shaped lanterns which were strung up along the street, painting it in a warm pink glow.

She looked at Rio and leaned closer to her. “Thanks for doing this.”

Rio raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, you are my girlfriend.” She kissed her cheek and smiled cheekily. “Gotta treat you like a queen.”

Mitsuko blushed, smiling more. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured because of my family.” She held her gloved hand. “I know my dad is overbearing…”

“No, it’s fine.” Rio shrugged, eating some of the crepe. “I don’t really care about his opinion anyway…” She frowned when Mitsuko gave her a curious look. “I mean…I guess I was a little anxious after what he said, but that’s only because—because I don’t want you to think I don’t care or whatever.”

“Well, I guess I did want you to do something special,” Mitsuko admitted, shrugging. “I probably should have told you but I didn’t want to put any pressure on you or anything…”

Rio smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah, well, I probably need a reminder every now and then.” She shrugged again. “This whole dating thing is confusing sometimes…”

Mitsuko nodded. “Yeah, sometimes I don’t know if I’m meant to make the first move or not,” she admitted. “And our parents aren’t exactly helping, but maybe that’s just what all parents are like.”

“Not sure all parents are like yours, Mitsuko,” Rio said, frowning. “How are things anyway?”

She shrugged. “Things are okay, I think. A lots changing which is kind of… _a lot_ to process but…” She sighed and ate some more of the pancake. “Things are okay. Mom seems stressed though…”

Rio hummed, nodding. “She did seem a little off.” She frowned. “She’s not drinking though, right?”

“Oh, no!” Mitsuko said quickly. “She’s fine, but she is smoking more, but I think that’s a better alternative.”

“Yeah…” Rio’s frown faded. “Well, I tried to talk to my grandma, but she’s ignoring my calls.”

Mitsuko’s stomach twisted. “She’s being ridiculous.” She squeezed her shoulder. “Are your parents still talking to her?”

Rio grimaced. “Not anymore…I know they visited her a few times but the rest of the time they just seem tobe arguing with her on the phone…”

Mitsuko hummed, resting her chin on her shoulder. “At least they’re on your side.”

“Yeah…” Rio’s grimace didn’t fade. “And my brother’s fine with it so if my gran can’t get on board then that’s her loss.”

She nodded, kissing her on the cheek. “I know it took my mom a while to come around—it can be hard sometimes.”

“Yeah, well.” Rio shrugged, chewing her food. “I’m not gonna waste time caring.”

“Right…” Mitsuko looked at her in concern, stroking her hair back. “Well, let’s not think about it okay?” She smiled and kissed her cheek. “Today we should just have fun…”

Rio smiled coyly, cupping her cheek. “Maybe not too much fun—I think your dad and brother just might kill me.”

Mitsuko grinned. “Prob—“

“Hey.” The boy from the couple next to them looked over his shoulder to glare at them. “Do you mind?”

“Wada!” The girl he had his arm around, his date, looked embarrassed, “Just leave it.”

Rio’s eyes narrowed, growing on guard as she wrapped her arm around Mitsuko. “What’s your deal?”

Wada, the teenager with short cut dark hair and narrowed eyes, grimaced. “You’re making my girlfriend, uncomfortable, that’s my deal—go somewhere else.”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened, digging her nails into her bag. A few people started to look over curiously, making her tense up more.

“Uh, yeah, how about you fuck off instead?” Rio replied sharply, staying seated. “If you don’t like it, don’t look.”

Wada gritted his teeth, removing his arm from around his girlfriend. “If you wanna fucking finger each other go do it somewhere in private!”

Mitsuko felt like the air was being sucked out of her, and Rio’s eyes lit up with anger, standing up.

“Go fuck yourself!”

“Rio!” She grabbed her girlfriend’s wrist, trying to tug her back down. “Don’t!”

Wada stood up, towering over Rio easily. “Just because you’re a girl—“

Rio gritted her teeth. “Which will make it even funnier when I kick your ass.”

The boy’s girlfriend grabbed his arm. “Leave it, Wada.”

But it was very apparent they were passed that point, and Mitsuko’s dread had grown so much she couldn’t breathe properly, and Rio was backing down even when Wada’s hands clenched into fists—

“Fuck off.” Wada poked Rio hard in the shoulder. “Or—“

Mitsuko pepper-sprayed him in the face.

She’d moved so fast Rio reeled back in alarm.

The teenager screamed and covered his eyes in agony.

“Wada!” His girlfriend tried to look at his eyes.

Mitsuko froze, staring at them and clutching the Mace Spray tight.

_Well…shit._

“Fuck,” Rio swore. “Fuck…” She looked around as people started to gather. “ _Fuck!_ ”

Before Mitsuko knew it her girlfriend grabbed her arm and pulled her along as she ran. The half-eaten crepes dropping to the ground in a messy heap.

Oh, shit.

Mitsuko quickly regained her bearings and picked up her pace.

“Why the fuck do you have pepper spray!?” Rio yelled as they ran away from the street food stalls and down a dark alley.

“My mom gave me it,” Mitsuko replied, nearly tripping over a rubbish bin as they ran down the alley. “S-slow down—ah!”

She bashed into another rubbish bin left outside of the restaurant and fell into the heap of garbage.

“Oh, shit!” Rio swore, hastily pulling her to her feet. “I-I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay.” Mitsuko tried to brush the trash off, grimacing when she pulled a banana peel out of her hair. “Let’s just focus on going somewhere private and away from here.”

Rio nodded, looking around. “Yeah, yeah, we can…uh…” She held her hand. “The restaurants will be packed…”

“We’ll find somewhere,” Mitsuko reassured. “There has to be one place available.” She took out her phone. “Ritsu!”

A few seconds Ritsu popped up on the screen wearing a fancy pink dress.

Mitsuko frowned. “Why are you dressed up?”

Ritsu blushed. “Um…well, I was just giving online dating a try and…” She went bright red. “Anyway! Is everything alright?”

The two girls exchanged a look. “Uh, not exactly.” Rio frowned. “Ritsu, we need to find a private place that’s nearby and we can blend in—preferably not a restaurant or café.”

“Um, okay, that sounds pretty serious.” Ritsu frowned and brought up a map. “I’ve pinpointed five locations nearby that are low-key, but do you want me to call Koro-sensei? He’s at the Old Campus crying over a picture of Ms Yukimura, so he isn’t busy.”

Mitsuko grimaced. “Uh, maybe not yet. He isn’t exactly subtle…”

“Let’s just focus on going somewhere quiet,” Rio said, looking at the locations Ritsu had pointed out. “Okay, there’s a Karaoke bar round the corner, let’s go there.”

Mitsuko nodded, smiling apologetically at Ritsu. “Sorry for interrupting your date, Ritsu.”

The AI blushed. “Heh. Oh, it’s fine! He’s still waiting for me on another server.” She smiled sheepishly. “So just call me if you need help.”

She smiled gratefully. “Thanks!”

“Come on.” Rio tugged her arm as the two of them made their way to the karaoke bar.

* * *

Mitsuko cleaned herself off in the bathroom mirror, using some tissue to try to get rid of the stains on her light blue top that was tucked into her skirt.

She shifted away from some older girls who were dressed up and wouldn’t stop sniffling something on their fingers.

Just what kind of karaoke bar was this?

The bathroom floor was also really sticky for some reason…

Mitsuko grimaced and quickly left when more woman stumbled in looking drunk.

When she left the bathroom she walked over to where Rio had got them seats near a quiet corner away from all the music and most of the people.

“So…” Mitsuko sat down in the seat opposite her. “What do we do?”

Rio groaned, running a hand down her face. “No idea.” She sighed. “Why did your mom give you pepper spray!?”

“…She said it was for protection.” She shrugged. “Which she was right about.”

“Mitsuko, I had everything handled,” Rio told her. “The guy was a pussy, he wasn’t really going to fight me.”

Mitsuko scowled. “He shoved you…”

“That doesn’t mean you can just mace him in the face!” Rio reprimanded.

Her scowl deepened. “But you’re my girlfriend…I want to protect you.”

Her girlfriend stared at her in exasperation. “Mitsu…” She sighed and shook her head. “I swear…”

“My dad always said people would attack me because I’m different,” Mitsuko said stiffly, staring at the dirty table. “He said I had to be strong enough to crush them so they didn’t hurt me.”

“Um, yeah, can we please agree your dad gives really bad advice?” Rio raised an eyebrow. “Look, I’m really happy you want to protect me, but you might want to calm down your approach a little.”

Mitsuko frowned. “I did technically commit a crime.” She grimaced when it started to sink in. “What if this gets put on my permanent record?” The panic started to creep in. “Mom and dad are going to be so upset!”

Mom was already hesitant about them dating, this would just confirm all her worst fears! And dad was already banking on her being a big success and winning the Nobel Prize; what were chances of that happening now if she had this stain?!

“Hey, it’ll be fine.” Rio reached over and grabbed her hand. “Let’s just…we should tell our parents.” She grimaced. “They’ll probably ground us and won’t let us go out alone for a while but…we need to tell them in case the guy finds out who we are and tries to press charged.”

Mitsuko nodded, lowering her gaze. “You’re right…”

“I’ll call my mom,” Rio said, taking out her phone.

“Right.” She looked around warily. “Though, maybe we should go somewhere else so they don’t freak out?”

Mitsuko pointed over at a bunch of sketchy men in the booth opposite who were with a group of women snorting a white powder off the table…

Rio’s eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, shit!”

“Yeah…” She stood up, looking around worriedly. “I think we should leave.”

“Why the hell did Ritsu point out this karaoke bar?!” Rio stood up as well.

Mitsuko grabbed her hand. “Yeah, I don’t think she looked at the description or the age range…”

The two of them hurried outside onto the busy street. There wasn’t a security guard at the door so no one was even questioning why they were leaving the bar when they were clearly underage.

“So, I’m gonna go on a wild guess here and assume we’re in the bad part of the city,” Rio said, linking arms with Mitsuko.

“Yeah…” Mitsuko looked around anxiously. “I think we need to get somewhere safer to wait for your mom to pick us up….”

The two of them grimaced when they saw a bunch of young men walking towards them with beers in hand.

“Okay, so let’s stick to the backstreets?” Rio suggested as the two of them tried to get away from the crowd. “Considering how drunk everyone is, I’m voting we stay away from people?”

Mitsuko nodded. “Good idea. Come on.”

The two of them hurried down the quiet streets, trying to avoid the loud noise from the larger crowds as more people came out to party and enjoy the different Valentine themed events.

“Okay. The station is down here.” Mitsuko said, looking at the map on her phone. “So let’s cut down here and—“

There was a shrill scream coming down the alleyway up ahead, making them both jump and hurry to see.

When they looked around there was a woman in a short dress trying to push away two grown men in business suits and who looked like they’d drank too much at a corporate happy hour.

Mitsuko stared at the scene in alarm. “Oh, shit.”

Rio’s eyes lit up with rage. “Those bastards!”

“Wait.” Mitsuko grabbed her hand. “We already assaulted one person!”

“This isn’t assault, it’s defence and protection, ” Rio said firmly, pulling her long. “We have to stop them. Come on.”

“Rio!” Mitsuko whispered. “We can’t just—“

Then one of the men ripped the front of the woman’s dress, exposing her bra.

Mitsuko tensed, feeling something run through her veins when she saw.

_Well, fuck…_

She exchanged a hardened look with her girlfriend and took out the mace spray.

“Stop it!” The woman tried to push away their grabby hands.

“Hey, calm down.” One of the men tried to kiss her. “It’s Valentine’s day, we’re lonely—”

Rio threw a trash can at the guy, sending him flying to the ground. “Aw! Are you lonely?”

Mitsuko sprayed the second man in the face with the pepper spray before kneeing him in the stomach. “That’s really rough.”

He groaned and fell onto his knees. She delivered a swift kick to the back to knock him to the ground.

The woman gawked at them, quickly wrapping her arms around herself. “W-what?!”

The first businessman who had been knocked to the ground groaned and rubbed his head. “What the fuck?!”

Rio kicked him in the backside. “Stay down, asshole.”

Mitsuko took off her coat and handed it to the woman so she could cover herself. “Here you go!” She smiled at her reassuringly before checking the coat pockets for some money. “Here’s some money for a taxi.”

The woman stared at her in shock, cradling the coat around her. “I…”

“Hey, it’s okay, you can go.” Rio patted her on the shoulder. “Get out of here before these assholes come to.”

The woman gulped, looking at them both a moment longer before running off. “Thank you!”

“Stay safe!” Mitsuko yelled after her, and then dug her heel into the second man’s neck when he tried to stand up. “Let’s go!”

Rio nodded, grabbing her hand. “Yeah, we already messed up enough already.”

* * *

Her feet started to hurt in the small heels she was wearing as they walked along the backstreets, and the February air was cold even though Rio had given her jacket to her since her coat was not gone.

“So, where were you going to take me after the food stalls?” Mitsuko asked while Rio tried to get signal on her phone.

“Huh?” Rio looked up and then blushed. “Uh…bowling…”

Mitsuko smiled. “Really?!”

“Yeah…” Rio looked embarrassed. “I know it isn’t exciting….”

Mitsuko kissed her cheek. “I think it would have been great—I’ve never been bowling before.” Her smile widened. “We should go next week.” Then her smile wavered. “Um, hopefully, if we aren’t grounded.”

Her girlfriend smiled faintly. “Yeah, true.” She looked back at her phone as they stopped on a quiet high street. “She can pick us up from here.” She rang the number on her phone and pressed it to her ear.

Mitsuko looked around the street while Rio waited for the phone to answer. They seemed to nearer the more residential part of the city centre where the rows of apartments near the park nearby.

“Hey, mom!” Rio smiled nervously, scratching the back of her head. “Uh, would you be able to pick us up…we kind of ran into some trouble in—no, no it’s fine! It’s…serious….” Rio cringed. “Uh, okay, well, not bad. Look, can you pick us up, I’ll explain in the car, alright?”

She could hear the faint mumbling coming from the phone when Rio’s mom replied.

“Okay, thanks, so just pick us up from…” Rio looked around quickly.

“Ikenohata.” Mitsuko quickly tried to remember the name of the school they’d walked passed. “Near Shinobugaoka Elementary School.”

Rio nodded and relayed the directions to her mom. “Okay. Thanks, mom.” She sighed when she hung up. “Shit. What a night…”

“Sorry, it got cut short.” Mitsuko wrapped her arms around her. “I still had a good time spending time with you, even if it was violent.”

“Me too.” Rio kissed her deeply, cradling her jaw. “And you still look beautiful by the way, I probably didn’t say that enough this night.”

Mitsuko grinned and nuzzled her face into her neck. “I think you look beautiful too.”

Rio held onto her and sighed. “Your dad’s gonna kill me, isn’t he?”

She sighed contently, closing her eyes as she rested her head on her shoulder. “Yeah, probably.”

* * *

Mrs Nakamura had brought them back to Rio’s house and then called the principal to pick Mitsuko up. Which meant she had less than five minutes to convince her dad things weren’t as bad as they looked.

For a very, very, long time her dad just stared at Mitsuko while she stood in the hallway of Rio’s house looking and smelling like she’d fallen in the trash and lost her coat.

“…Do I even want to know?” her dad asked clinically.

Mitsuko gave a strained laugh. “Probably not…”

Dad took a deep breath. “Will it worry your mother?”

“…Yes.”

Dad pinched the bridge of his nose. “Should I be expecting a call from the police?”

Mitsuko winced, looking over her shoulder at Rio and Mrs Nakamura who were watching. “Um…well, hopefully not.”

Her dad’s eyes narrowed. “ _Hopefully_?”

She gave a nervous laugh, looking down. “Things sort of escalated…and then kept escalating…”

“ _Mitsuko,”_ dad said sternly.

“I can explain!” she said quickly, raising her hands. “It’s really not as bad as you think—I promise.”

Dad’s lips thinned into a grimace, glaring at her. “…Get in the car. _Now_.”

Mitsuko didn’t need to be told twice and quickly rushed out of the door.

Then dad’s eyes narrowed at Rio who was smiling nervously. “We will be discussing this at school, Miss Nakamura.”

Rio grimaced while Mrs Nakamura sighed and shook her head. 


	66. Mayumi Asano's Background Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N two updates in one day. On point. 
> 
> So this, again, I did not plan on doing this plot point from Mayumi's POV, but there were a lot of things which weren't translating properly from Mitsuko's POV so here we have it. 
> 
> If you have a smoking problem, you may not want to read XD

* * *

_It was just under sixteen years ago when…_

The first time one of the twins kicked was when she’s been sat on the sofa while Gakuhou had been massaging her feet.

“Ooh!” She touched her swollen stomach. “One of them kicked.” She quickly grabbed his hand and placed it on his stomach. “Feel.”

Her husband’s eyes widened slightly as one of the babies moved around. “I can feel them.” He smiled fondly. “This is good, I was starting worry when you said you hadn’t felt much movement.”

She smiled brightly. “They have been quiet, but the doctor said they’d start competing for room soon once they got bigger.” She stroked her stomach. “I’m hoping they don’t fight too much, Sato said her first girl wouldn’t stop kicking her and it hurt so bad she couldn’t sleep.”

Gakuhou hummed, staring at her stomach as he cradled it in both hands. “I’ve read that music can calm them down if that happens.”

Mayumi nodded. “Yes, I think they mentioned that on tv…” Her smile wavered. “To be honest they’ll probably fight more once they out of there. One mother at the parent group says her twins fight all the time and they’re only three!”

He looked up at her in amusement, rising to his feet to sit next to her on the sofa. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.” He kissed her forehead gently, making her smile. “Besides, we’re a team, remember? Everything will be fine.”

Her smile grew at that, snuggling close to him. “Yes, I know.” She rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him. “Did you speak to the Principal about taking extended paternity leave?”

He frowned. “Yes…but they weren’t very flexible…” He sighed, humming. “I don’t think I’ll stay on there for another year.” Then he smiled, running his hands through her light hair; it would need cutting soon to something shorter. “I think I’m going to go ahead with the plans for the Cram school.”

Her eyes widened, pulling away slightly. “Did you pick the spot we saw last month.”

“Yes.” Gakuhou smiled with some excitement. “The main issue will be building a reputation, but if I can get at least a handful of students, that should be enough to start becoming established,” he told her with a spark in his eye. “The hours will be flexible enough so I can help look after the twins.”

“That’ll be nice.” She nodded, smiling a little in relief. “I’m happy to help out with accounting.” Her smile grew teasing. “You really are awful at keeping track of your taxes.”

He looked amused and kissed the top of her head. “That’s why I need you.”

“Exactly.” She closed her eyes and drew closer to him. “You’re hopeless.”

* * *

Mayumi sipped some lemonade as she stared at the terms her children had sent her and Gakuhou in regards to custody.

She sat opposite Gakuhou at his desk in his office, the two of them going over the paperwork.

“They seem like reasonable terms,” he said evenly after a long moment of silence.

Her fingers twitched as she placed the neatly typed terms on the desk. “Yes, very detailed, but that’s our kids.” She sighed and felt a strong aching urge for a cigarette and something stronger than lemonade. “…If this will make them happy then I’ll agree to it.”

“Yes, I agree,” he replied just as cordially. “I’ll have the terms copied and sent to both of our lawyers.”

“Good.” Mayumi finished the rest of the lemonade and placed it on the desk, earning a small frown from him when she didn’t put it on the coaster, the condensation dripped down the glass and onto the polished wood. “Since, Koro-sensei’s chance of exploding is reduced…I’ve started looking for houses and a few apartments.”

It was well into mid-February, and now that it seemed very likely the world wasn’t going to end by March, it made sense they focussed on the future once the school year was over.

A brief look of irritation flashed across his face. “You do realise none of that is necessary? I’ll gladly leave you the house if it helps the children adjust—“

“I don’t want to stay here,” she said firmly, growing uncomfortably as something twisted in her chest. “They’ll still be in this house three days out of a week, they’ll be fine.” The feeling in her chest got worse. “Besides, you paid for it, it’s yours…”

He stayed quiet after that, staring at her with barely masked irritation, but she tried to ignore it. “Fine…if that’s how you feel.”

“It is.” She stood up and took out the pack of cigarettes from her pocket. “If you want leftovers from dinner they’re in the fridge.”

* * *

Mayumi stared at the pack of cigarettes, there was only one left, she’d need more. It seemed like she was going through two to three packs a day lately, with each sit-down or phone call with her lawyer and husband needing a cigarette break fresh after.

“Have you finished up the accounts, Asano?” her manager, Nakano, asked with his usual friendly smile; he was a nice man with greying brown hair and small eyes. The office was small so she always saw him and the other three admin workers every day in the closed space, which was nice. “I need to look them over before tomorrow.”

  
“O-Oh, yes, nearly!” She smiled at him sweetly and turned back to the computer. “There are just a few expenses I need to finish calculating, see here.” She gestured with her pen at the spreadsheet. “I’ll have it finished before I break for lunch.”

Nakano nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Good work. You’re so fast at working out the numbers. It’s impressive.”

She smiled shyly, feeling her cheeks heat up at the praise. “Thank you.”

He patted her shoulder before leaving. “Email me when you finish.”

“Yes, of course,” she replied, watching him leave.

Her smile faded when she saw one of the admins, Aoki, turn to another girl, Matsuda, and whisper something in her ear, the two of them shooting her a look before chuckling.

Mayumi tensed, turning her gaze back to her screen when she felt a rush of embarrassment, trying to ignore them.

The buzzing from her phone distracted her when she received a text from one of her friends, Sato.

****:Hi Sweetie! I’m in the city for lunch. Come join me!:** **

She smiled apprehensively before replying back. ****: Sounds great! Where do you want to meet?:****

* * *

It had been a while since she had hung out with Sato; the woman’s dark hair was shorter and she was wearing new gold earrings and a little more make-up on her face.

Sato lit up a cigarette from across the table in the outside area of the restaurant they were at. “So, how are Gakushuu and Mitsuko?”

“Oh, they’re fine.” Mayumi smiled. “Gakushuu is going to be valedictorian, and Mitsuko is getting involved with different charity events.”

Sato looked impressed, making her chest fill with pride. “I wish my girls were as talented as your kids.” She sighed loudly. “They’re so lazy.”

Mayumi chuckled, sipping her coffee. “Don’t be mean.”

“It’s true.” Sato scowled. “They’re more obsessed over their new boyfriends…” She sighed, raising an eyebrow at her. “Has Mitsuko found one yet?”

Mayumi nearly choked, tensing. “Um…” She lowered her gaze. “No…no she hasn’t got a boyfriend.”

“Well, she does study a lot.” Sato shrugged, looking amused. “And I pity the boy who has to put up with Gakuhou for a father-in-law.”

Mayumi gave a strained laugh, feeling her stomach churn. “Yes…yes, true.” She then felt a pang of overwhelming guilt weigh down on her, knowing Mitsuko would be upset if she heard the conversation.

“What’s with the long face?” Sato raised an eyebrow. “Is it that husband of yours again?”

“…Sort of.” Mayumi sighed and placed a cigarette in her mouth so she could avoid saying more than that.

The woman opposite hummed, passing her the lighter. “Mrs Tsuda said there was an incident at school her daughter told her about…between the Principal and Gakushuu?”

Mayumi cringed, not meeting her gaze as she smoked. “Yes…” She sighed, scowling. “I slapped Gakuhou when I found out.”

Sato’s eyes widened in shock. “You…you slapped him?”

“Yes…”

Sato snorted and then burst out laughing, causing Mayumi to blush when other customers looked over.

“Sato!” Mayumi chided, but the other woman just kept laughing. “People are staring.”

Her friend started to calm. “Oh…I’m sorry, dear.” She grinned wickedly. “It’s just…the image is just…” She smirked, smoking some more. “Why haven’t you told the others, we could use a good laugh like that?”

Mayumi scrunched up her napkin on her lap. “I know I should have told you all, I’ve just been…busy. That’s all.”

Sato hummed, raising an eyebrow. “So, have you two made up yet?”

Her stomach twisted. “Um…no, not exactly.”

Her friend shrugged, finishing off her latte. “Well, I suppose it’s good to let him stew for a few months.”

“Yes…” Mayumi looked unsure, taking a long drag as the smoke filtered out of her mouth. “Um…though, I have been thinking.” She inhaled more smoke, feeling some relief when it burned her throat. “Maybe…I don’t know. Do you think I should leave him?”

Sato frowned as Mayumi waited anxiously to see what her reaction would be.

“I mean, everyone needs a vacation,” Sato replied with a shrug.

“I don’t mean a vacation, Sato,” Mayumi replied, growing annoyed.

Sato frowned. “Wait, you mean divorce?”

“Well, yes…what do you think?” she replied, watching her anxiously.

Sato’s frown grew, tapping some ash into the glass tray. “Isn’t that a little rash?”

Mayumi’s stomach plummeted. “He hit my son.”

“And that warrants a divorce?” Sato shrugged dismissively. “He’s the boy’s father, he was probably disciplining him,” she argued. “I’m pretty sure forcing the kids from their dad will cause more damage than _one_ slap.”

Mayumi felt sick. “It wasn’t just a slap.” Her voice broke in the middle. “He…he doesn’t treat the children right.” Then she faltered. “I mean…well, he is improving—“

“Then what’s the problem?” Sato asked. “If he’s apologised and is trying to be better. Why divorce him?”

It felt hard to breathe properly, feeling her eyes sting. “Because—because, that doesn’t fix things!” she rose her voice. “I don’t—he’s not the man I fell in love with, Sato—“

“And?” Sato looked annoyed. “What, did you think you’d be happily in love forever?” She wrinkled her nose. “We’re not in our twenties anymore, Mayumi. Marriage is a commitment. It isn’t just about you, it’s about the kids as well.”

Mayumi’s eyes watered, wiping them quickly. “I…I’m thinking of them too—“

“Have you asked them if they want you to divorce?” Sato challenged.

She tensed, the cigarette shaking between her fingers when her hands trembled. “Not really…”

“Then how do you know the divorce won’t mess them up?” Sato challenged. “I’ve read about it, children from divorced parents can become unstable, it can ruin their prospects.”

Mayumi felt her dread become suffocating. “N-no, it won’t. It won’t…” She thought about everything that had happened over a year and how unhappy her children had been. “They…”

“Look, I’m telling you this, because I care,” Sato said, grabbing her hand across the table. “Go to marriage counselling, get this fixed, and then everything will be fine.”

Mayumi kept her gaze low, blinking back tears. “But I don’t think I love him anymore…”

Sato shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “It isn’t just about _you_ , Mayumi.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’d be tearing your children from their father—do you want them to resent you for that?”

Mayumi felt a prickle of fear. “They wouldn’t resent me,” she muttered, feeling more doubt creep in.

“And how exactly do you think you’d support yourself? You won’t be able to get a high ranking job to support two kids,” Sato argued. “People will talk.”

_People will talk_

Mayumi swallowed a lump in her throat, and shakily took a long drag of the cigarette to calm her nerves.

Sato sighed, softening her features as she pulled her hand away. “Just go talk to a counsellor. Get it fixed and then you can all be happy again.”

* * *

“Here you go.”

A fresh pack of cigarettes was handed over to her at the counter in the Petrol station.

The young woman behind the counter smiled at her. “So besides the Petrol for the car, will that be everything?”

Mayumi closed her hand around the pack. “Yes…” She looked around the store and felt her stomach twist when she saw the rows upon rows of alcohol lined up next to the tobacco. “Um…”

The girl behind the counter frowned. “If that’s everything it’ll be 5,366 yen.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Mayumi quickly stuck her card in the machine and typed in her pin. “Thank you.”

A few seconds later the money cleared and the cash register printed a receipt.

“Have a nice evening!”

* * *

“Is dad coming to dinner tonight?” Mitsuko asked as she went to grab some plates from the top cupboard. “Or is it just the three of us?”

Mayumi stirred the stew. “He’s having dinner with some friends tonight,” she replied, feeling a numbness grow in her chest. “Just get three plates.”

“Okay.” Mitsuko stood on her tiptoes and grabbed three bowls, and then opened the drawer to get the cutlery. “Gakushuu says he’ll be down in a second—he’s finishing his homework.”

She frowned at her daughter. “And have you done yours?”

“Yes,” she replied, walking over to the kitchen table. “I did it as soon as I got back.”

Mayumi smiled. “Good.” She turned the hob off. “It’s ready, so if your brother isn’t down soon, you’ll need to go get him.”

Mitsuko shrugged, setting the table. “Okay.”

She kept her smile in place and prepared to serve the stew while they waited for Gakushuu.

Her son eventually came down, having finally changed out of his uniform and into a jumper. “Alright, everyone sit down.”

Mitsuko put the glasses out before taking her seat. “What took you so long?” She shot her brother an annoyed look.

“I was double-checking my homework,” he replied primly as mom dished out the food. “I won’t lose marks for minor errors.”

Mitsuko snorted. “More like you were triple-checking.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Mayumi replied, kissing her son on the head as she passed him. “Gakushuu’s just diligent.”

“More like obsessed, but fine, let’s go with that,” Mitsuko replied, shrugging as she started to eat.

Mayumi smiled in amusement, serving herself some stew before putting the pot on the side and sitting down with her children. “So how was school today.”

“It was fine.” Gakushuu shrugged.

“Yeah, it was okay.” Mitsuko smiled crookedly. “Our class had some fun catching up on stuff we missed in the winter break.”

Mayumi nodded. “Well, that’s nice.”

“What did you do today?” Gakushuu asked her.

“Oh, well, l-lots of things.” Mayumi smiled apprehensively. ”Work was so busy…”

Mitsuko and her brother exchanged a look. “Okay, sounds, fun.”

“Yes.” Mayumi poked at her food with her spoon, losing her appetite the more Sato’s words rang in her head. “I have been wondering something, and since your father isn’t here, maybe now is the best time to ask.”

“Um, okay…” Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Well, so much has changed recently for you both,” mom said warily. “And since you both have decided to live with me primarily, I wanted know if…” She fidgeted. “I mean, how you’re feeling about it?”

Her children stared at her blankly.

She sighed. “I just want you to be honest about how you’re feeling.”

They kept staring her blankly.

She sighed in exasperation. “Please, just humour me?”

Mitsuko looked at her brother who just shrugged.

“Well, I mean…I was kind of upset and worried,” she replied, shrugging. “But it’s fine. I’m over it.”

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Mayumi felt her dread spike. “I…if you’re still upset that’s perfectly alright!”

“No, mom, it’s fine!” Mitsuko said quickly. “It’s just one of those things. I mean, divorce isn’t exactly fun.”

“Besides, we’ve accepted it,” Gakushuu replied, shrugging. ”Things are going to change, but we can handle it.”

Mayumi looked back and forth between them anxiously. “Things won’t change that much…” The doubtful look they gave her made her cringe and feel foolish. “I just mean, we’ll always be a family, even when separate.”

Her daughter poked at her food. “Yeah, we know.”

Mayumi dug her nails into her palms and look down, trying to smother the growing shame which was building up.

* * *

_It was just under eight years ago when…_

She regained consciousness when two fingers were jabbed down her throat, making her choke and keel over vomiting on the bedroom carpet.

Mayumi spat and spluttered, vomiting up a clear brown liquid as she trembled. There was an overpowering stench mixing into the vomit, and it was only when her tangled hair fell on her face that she realised the stench was her.

“What were you _thinking?_ ”

She flinched and crawled to the far corner of the wall when she looked up and saw her husband towering over her with a look which made her feel like dirt.

“I…” Her eyes filled with tears, curling her hands around herself. “Where are…?”

“The children are downstairs,” Gakuhou said coldly. “They’re currently looking through a takeout menu after nearly _burning down_ the entire house.”

“W-what?!” She looked up at him blearily. “I don’t under—“

“How many of these did you take?” he’d already wandered over to the bedside table and picked one of the empty pill containers. “And what did you drink it with?!” He grabbed the empty bottle of vodka and glared down at her.“Were you trying to kill yourself?!”

“N-no!” Mayumi choked back a sob and curled more in on herself. “I-I’m s-sorry!”

“What is wrong with you?” His voice was harsh, coming closer to her. “Is this how you wanted our children to find you? Do you have any idea of how reckless you’re being?“

She shied away from him as his words prodded her like knives like he was pushing her into a corner.

“I’m sorry!” Her breathing was hard like she couldn’t get enough air in. “I-I’m s-sorry!” She broke down into sobs when she couldn’t speak, the tears making it impossible to see properly. “I-I…”

Her head felt hot as she kept sobbing and feeling like her heart would break through her ribs, wishing he’d never woken her up.

Her stomach ached and her throat was burning from where the vomit was, and she felt exhausted, wanting to go to sleep and be left alone so she didn’t have to think about what was happening or where she was.

Then after a long time, he slowly crouched down beside her and pulled her close.

“Why would you do this?” his voice was softer this time.

“Y-you weren’t h-here.” She sobbed cried harder and clung onto him, burying her face in his chest. “You weren’t—you weren’t h-here!”

He shushed her, holding her closer than he had in months. “Calm down.”

Mayumi curled her arms around him, crying as she was held, holding tight like she was afraid he’d disappear again the moment she’d let go.

“You said we were a t-team,” she whispered, keeping her gaze low. “B-but you left—“

“We are still that,” he reassured her, cupping her cheek with his hand as he lifted her face up. “I would never abandon this family.” He kissed her forehead. “But my students need me just as much as you and the children do—I had to learn strength and now I understand it. I understand what needs to be done for our children to be strong.”

Mayumi’s eyes widened. “I don’t understand what you—“

“It’s alright.” He shushed her and pressed her head against his chest. “I expected too much from you.” He kissed the top of her head. “Looking after the children on your own clearly caused you stress.”

“No.” She shook her head. “No, I just…” Her voice trailed off, not knowing what to say,

Except that it felt more like loneliness than stress…

But, admitting to the loneliness felt ridiculous considering how many friends she had available and how Gakushuu and Mitsuko always kept her occupied.

_What mother could say they were lonely when they were always with their children?_

She felt a rise of shame become suffocating and smothering, feeling like a failure of a mother and a wife _._

_I’m supposed to be better than this._

Mayumi cringed, feeling fresh tears come on, feeling lower than dirt.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, lifting her head to look at her husband. “Please, please don’t l-leave.” She clung onto him tight, feeling like a leach and wanting him to fix everything. “ _Please._ ”

“I would never,” he reassured her, stroking her tangled hair. “I promise, we’ll fix this,” he told her firmly. “This won’t happen again.” He lifted her chin so she had to look at him as his eyes narrowed. “Will it?”

She sniffled and shook her head, wiping her eyes. “No…”

“Good.” He wiped his thumb over her lips before kissing her gently on the cheek, making her lean into him more and feel like the whole world wasn’t crashing down around her.

* * *

Mayumi let out a fog of smoke from her mouth as she sat down the back garden step, holding the fresh back of cigarettes in her hand.

She’d burned through three cigarettes in the space of an hour and it wasn’t even 11 PM yet.

The backdoor creaked open. “Do you have a moment?” Gakuhou opened the door further, his briefcase in hand. “I have an update from my lawyer.”

The numbness in her chest spread and weighed down on her. “Can we just talk about that tomorrow, please?”

There was a pause.

“Of course.” He stayed standing in the doorway, staring at her. “…Is everything alright?”

She almost laughed, feeling something cold and bitter merge in.

She grimaced, taking a long drag. “Yes.”

“Alright then,” he replied stiffly.

He didn’t go away and stayed where he was standing.

Mayumi swallowed thickly, feeling sick.

_You can all be happy again._

Sato’s voice trickled into her ear again.

She blinked back tears and kept smoking, wanting the voice in her head to shut up so she could thin properly for once.

“Are you just going to stand there all night or are you going to leave?” she asked him, looking up. “What do you want?”

His eyes narrowed. “Did something happen today?”

“No,” she replied too quickly, which meant he now knew she was lying. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

His gaze flicked to the cigarettes. “Is that a new pack? You only just bought one yesterday.”

She crushed the pack in her hand, standing up. “Well, I needed more.” She stubbed the cigarettes out on the door, causing the paint to sizzle from the heat. “Why are you going to throw those out too?”

He looked irritated. “I only commented because of the smell,” he replied coldly. “Something I don’t think the children will appreciate.”

She winced, feeling her skin crawl at the comment as he walked away from her.

* * *

_It was just under eight years ago when…_

Mayumi rubbed her arm as she sat next to her husband on the bench outside, the garden wasn’t much to look at in the facility and there were overgrown weeds.

Gakuhou frowned as he scanned the surroundings. “I know this place isn’t as top standard as it could be.” He sighed. “But you’d think they’d afford a better gardener.”

She grimaced, looking down. “It’s fine…”

“Are they treating you well here?” he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She tensed. “Yes.”

Well, she didn’t like the washed out ‘comfortable’ clothes she had to wear since they were baggy and made her feel like a teenager who never got out of bed. The staff could be rude sometimes and dismissive but it wasn’t like they hurt her, it wasn’t like they were physically assaulting her or—

“That’s good,” he replied, frowning faintly when he saw a patient hobbled by. “I’ll try to get you moved to a more comfortable place, at least with better scenery.”

“No, it’s fine,” she mumbled, feeling tired. “I don’t really care about the scenery.”

She knew it had been a struggle to get her booked into this rehabilitation facility in the first place since there were limited facilities in the city and the waiting list had been long. There was no point moving to somewhere else.

Her husband frowned. “I’ll still look into it…”

“Alight.” She fidgeted and looked at him hesitantly. “I’ve been feeling a lot better actually.” She forced a smile when he looked at her. “Perhaps next time you can bring the children—“

He looked at her grimly. “I don’t think this place is appropriate for them.”

“Oh.” Her smile fell, feeling a lump form in her throat. “Well…maybe a call or a letter…”

“I don’t want them distracted from their education,” he said firmly, causing her to wince. “Their performance in school lowered after you left.” His brow furrowed. “Mitsuko especially was emotional and is now only just improving in school.” He looked at her sternly. “But they’ve only improved because they haven’t been reminded of your absence. The less they think about it, the better.”

Her eyes watered. “Oh…”

She felt the guilt way down on her again when she wondered how much of mess she’d caused was disrupting their children’s education.

_If things hadn’t gotten to this point they wouldn’t be so upset._

_And if the children’s friends found out where she was they’d be seen as outcasts!_

He held her hands comfortingly. “It won’t be for much longer.” He kissed her cheek sweetly. “I just want you to focus on getting better so you can come home.”

“I’m trying…” Mayumi nodded, squeezing his hand. “I’m just worried.” She looked at him hesitantly. “You said Mitsuko was upset—“

“Yes, but she’s passed that now.” He frowned at her. “You can’t coddle them, Mayumi. The best thing we can do is teach them real strength, especially in this situation.” He cupped her cheek. “Our children _need_ to be strong.”

She nodded, grimacing as she pushed the lingering questions she had. “…Okay.”

***

The bottle felt heavy when she placed the plastic bag on the kitchen counter, and she felt a wave of regret when she stared at the newly bought wine bottle.

Mayumi chewed her nail, shakily touching the cork of the bottle.

_It was only 20% alcohol, that…that wasn’t that much if I just have one glass._

Her fingers trembled badly, as her eyes pricked with tears.

_I just need…_

She gripped the bottle tightly against her stomach, but couldn’t bring herself to open it.

Mayumi put the bottle back on the counter and stared at it before her gaze shifted to the sink. She turned on the tap and let the water run and then picked up the bottle.

Just pour it down. Just pour it down.

Her hands kept shaking until she turned the tap off, a trapped feeling starting to overwhelm her the longer she held the wine.

She couldn’t think about this right now.

Mayumi looked around the kitchen to find her old hiding spots, shifting the rubbish bin out of the way so she could move one of the sideboards under the counter away and hide the bottle there.

* * *

_It was just under seven years ago when…_

Mayumi felt nervous, fidgeting constantly all the way from the rehabilitation facility until they’d stepped into the house and removed their shoes.

She placed her suitcase by the stairs and looked around the hallway, as Gakuhou helped remove her coat and hung it on the hook.

Then a second later she saw Gakushuu cautiously peer around the hallway corner.

Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and then Mitsuko appeared as well from the around the corner.

She smiled at them nervously, feeling uncomfortable after months and weeks of being apart. “H-hello?”

“Mom?” Mitsuko looked confused, holding her brother’s hand tight as the two of them stood in the hallway.

They’d seemed to grow so much while she was away; Gakushuu was taller than his sister and Mitsuko’s hair was long enough to reach her back and had bow tying most of it back.

“Children, come greet your mother,” Gakuhou instructed.

The two of them seemed to tense up and her son’s eyes narrowed unnervingly.

Mayumi grew more uncomfortable when the children didn’t move.

 _“Now,”_ her husband’s voice sharpened to something harsher.

She stiffened and looked over at him warily, but the change of tone seemed to do the trick since her children walked over to her.

“Hello,” Gakushuu greeted stiffly, glaring up at her.

Mitsuko looked up shyly and then hesitantly pulled away from her brother and hugged her.

Mayumi went rigid at the unexpected embrace, but quickly tried to brush it off and patted her daughter on the head. “Were you good while I was gone?”

“Yes…” Mitsuko mumbled, burying her face in Mayumi’s skirt.

“Good…” Mayumi gave a strained smile, still feeling uneasy like she was a stranger in her own home. “I’m glad.”

Her stomach twisted at that, feeling guilty since that wasn’t the way a mother should feel around her children.

She should be happy to see them. She should be happy being back home.

“So how long are you staying?” Gakushuu asked coldly.

Her eyes widened. “Why would—?“

“I already told you your mother is better now, which is why she is home and staying permanently, Gakushuu,” her husband said sternly, staring down at their son with an unusual amount of coldness. “Now apologise to your mother for being disrespectful.”

“No, it’s fine…” Mayumi shifted uncomfortably, wanting to leave and go somewhere to be alone.

“No, it is not,” he replied evenly, looking at their son expectantly. “ _Gakushuu_.”

Mitsuko pulled away from Mayumi and moved back to her brother’s side.

Gakushuu glanced at his sister and then stared at his mother blankly. “…I’m sorry _, mom._ ”

His tone was flat and not very apologetic, and it unnerved her how mature he sounded. His whole domineer was controlled and detached like he wasn’t even acting like a proper child. It made her skin crawl.

Mayumi stepped back slightly, wondering what was wrong with him. “It’s fine…”

Mitsuko smiled up at her. “Will you be making us breakfast now?”

The childlikeness from her daughter relieved some of her nerves. “Yes, of course.”

Her daughter’s smile grew. “Okay!”

Mayumi smiled in relief when she saw her daughter hadn’t changed that much from her usual self and seemed to be behaving normally.

She tried to relax, reminding herself that this was _her family_. This was where she belonged and she had absolutely no reason to feel uncomfortable.

“I can make dinner as well.” It was nearly five in the evening. “I just…I just need to rest for a bit.”

Her husband nodded. “You go rest; the children have been studying so I need to check their work.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll bring your case up once I’m finished.”

She nodded, forcing a smile. “That’s fine.”

She glanced at her children who were staring at her silently, which seemed… _unusual_ since they never used to stop talking. They used to drive her up the wall with how much they talked.

_Now they were just quiet._

Mayumi tried to ignore it and quickly went upstairs to their bedroom, trying to shake the uneasiness which wouldn’t go away.

_Everything’s fine._

She ran a hand through her hair and sat on the bed, sniffing the air when it felt like she could smell her own vomit from months before.

“I’m being ridiculous.” She mumbled to herself, unable to stay still the more she tried not to think about it.

_The children are fine. They’ve just grown up a bit._

_Gakuhou is fine as well. He’s just trying his best to look after the children and fix the mess I made._

_Everything was going to be fine._

* * *

She was reading a book on the bed when the door opened, causing her to sit up at the abruptness.

Gakuhou walked in with a cold look on his face and held the bottle of wine she’d bought in his hand. “What is this?” He shut the door sharply. “Mayumi?”

Mayumi swallowed and quickly stood up. “Why are you barging in like this?” She crossed her arms, fixing him with a dark glare. “And before you start ranting, that bottle is a gift for—“

“Don’t lie to me.” His tone of voice set her on edge.

She felt her confidence falter. “Don’t take that tone with me.”

His expression may have seemed calm but his anger was there and radiating off him like a dark smog. “Do you have an idea of what would happen if Mitsuko of Gakushuu found this—did you even think?”

Mayumi flinched faintly, her confidence crumbling when her fear and shame became overpowering. “I…I didn’t—I wasn’t thinking alright, I just…”

“If you’re going to be looking after the children on your own, you cannot do this,” he told her. “Do you want a repeat of what Mitsuko did?”

“Of course not,” she said fiercely, her heart hammering loudly.

He continued, walking over to her. “Do you want our children’s future to be jeopardised?” He gestured to the bottle. “I will not have Mitsuko making your mistakes—you won’t ruin Gakushuu’s future by acting—“

“That’s enough.”

They both froze and looked over at the doorway they hadn’t noticed open.

Gakushuu stood in the doorway with Mitsuko behind him. “Leave her alone,” her son said coldly, narrowing his eyes at his father. “ _Now_.”

Mayumi’s eyes widened, looking at her son in surprise.

Mitsuko sighed and walked over to Gakuhou. “Dad, just go, you’re making things worse.” She placed a hand on his arm. “Mom can get rid of the bottle herself.”

Gakuhou gripped the bottle tight and stared down at their daughter hesitantly, but after a moment he sighed. “Very well.” He glanced at Mayumi coldly before placing the bottle on the windowsill. “I still expect a conversation afterwards regarding this.”

Mayumi regained some of her confidence and glared at him. “Oh, trust me, you’ll get that conversation.”

He grimaced and left the room without another word.

Gakushuu sighed and shook his head, closing the door behind him as he entered. “Idiot.”

Mitsuko’s lips twisted into a scowl. “He really is.”

Mayumi sat back down on the bed, unable to look at her children. “I wasn’t really going to drink it.” She cringed, shifting uncomfortably as her humiliation burned her cheeks. “Your father’s right, I can’t keep doing this…”

Both her children stay silent for a while until the came over and sat on either side of her.

“You can tell us if something’s bothering you,” Gakushuu said quietly, holding his mom’s hand.

She held back a sob and stared at her hands. “I…Everyone keeps saying divorce would be the wrong choice, that I’m jeopardising both of your futures.” She sniffed and wiped underneath her eye. “You both deserve a respectable mother and I keep failing to measure up.”

“Mom…” Mitsuko sighed deeply. “You can’t just…” She shooked her head. “Look, people are going to talk, but we can’t just be miserable to keep up with appearances.” She hed her other hand. “You can’t keep worrying about what other people think.”

“We’re Asanos,” Gakushuu said firmly. “We don’t follow, we lead.” He sounded so confident. “And if anyone has a problem with that we’ll just push them out of our way.”

Mayumi nearly smiled at how certain he sounded. “But it’s not that simple. I’m being selfish,” she told them, earning a confused look. “I ever even asked if you two wanted the divorce to happen.”

“Mom…we might still love dad, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay with him for our sake,” Mitsuko said slowly.

“And it’s not like the constant fight and constant belittling are really helping build an idyllic home environment,” her son said dryly.

Mitsuko smiled grimly. “Yeah, you and dad aren’t exactly role models when it comes to marriage.”

Mayumi grimaced, looking down. “I know but…what about finances, I won’t be ab;e to give you all of this.” She looked around the large and nicely decorated bedroom. “And certain jobs are prejudice towards divorced employees…”

“…Well, I guess it’ll be tough,” her daughter replied unsurely. “But we’ll find a way to cope—even if there’s money trouble, we’ll find a way together.”

“Besides the stock market really isn’t that hard to navigate and manipulate,” Gakushuu replied flippantly. “I’ve already predicted a crash in the coming years, which I use to my advantage.”

Mayumi stared at her son in alarm. “Gakushuu!”

He frowned. “What? I’m being practical.”

Mitsuko sighed loudly. “Look, we’re just saying, we understand the consequences.” She looked at her worriedly. “But you can’t stay married to dad just because you’re scared or because you think it’ll upset us. You can’t stay with someone you don’t love.”

“If you don’t want to divorce him then, fine, stay with him or just separate for a while.”Her son held her hand tight. “But you have to make a decision.”

Mayumi sighed. “I know.”

* * *

She lit up a cigarette one last time before pouring the bottle of wine in the outside drain, feeling the sweet smell of it overpower her nostril and make her second-guess briefly.

The bottle was emptied down the drain until the glass was clear.

Mayumi sighed and knelt to stare into the drain taking another long drag as the smoke left her mouth.

Then after a long moment of staring at nothing particular, she flicked the half-burned cigarette down the drain until the spark disappeared.

She sighed and reached into her pocket and took out the last pack she had before throwing it down the drain as well, gaining some satisfaction when it hit the water at the bottom and disappeared out of sight. 


	67. I'm the most stable one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n I'm moving to a new apartment soon so things have been hectic moving since COVIDS made things a little more complicated. So delays in updates on both stories. 

* * *

Bitch-sensei had been acting strange ever since Valantine’s day, it was weird, like there was this strange warm and lovey-dovey air surrounding her.

Mitsuko stared at Bitch-sensei warily when they were both hanging out in the teachers' lounge during lunch. “Okay, seriously, what’s up with you?”

“Hm?” She replied with an obnoxiously happy hum. “What did you say, dear?”

_Dear?!_

“Did you just call me ‘ _dear’_?!” Mitsuko looked horrified, reeling back on the sofa. “Did you hit your head or something?!”

Bitch-sensei chuckled. “Oh, you!” She smiled sweetly at her. “You’re just too young to understand…”

“Understand what, you weirdo?!” Mitsuko exclaimed, glaring at her. “Seriously, do you need a hospital or something?”

The blond laughed again. “Not yet but who knows in nine months—“

Mitsuko got up and whacked her over the head. “Will you start making sense already?!”

“Ow!” Bitch-sensei scowled, rubbing her head. “What was that for, you little brat?!”

She sighed in relief, straightening up. “Good, now you’re making sense.”

The teacher glared at her. “I’m in love, you idiot!” She huffed. “Can’t a woman enjoy some happiness after being properly satisfied by her man?”

Mitsuko made a gagging noise. “Oh, God…”

Bitch-sensei looked unashamed. “You’ll know what it’s like eventually!”

She blushed. “Shut up!” Her cheeks heated up more when she thought about the last kissing session she’d had with Rio behind the Old Campus building just before classes started.

“White day is just around the corner, right?” Bitch-sensei smiled wickedly. “That’s like a second Valantines day for you Japanese?”

“Well, yeah…” Mitsuko frowned. “But we still have to think about trying to Kill Koro-sensei so I haven’t really had time to plan anything yet.”

Bitch-sensei’s smiled faded. “Do you kids even have a plan yet?”

“Uh…” Mitsuko grimaced. “Not really…” She sighed and rubbed the back of her head. “Honestly, since the stakes have been lowered, none of us have been thinking much about the assassination.” She frowned. “I think most of us are exhausted after planning most of January and then the Entrance exams.”

Bitch-sensei hummed. “That’s not much time left…”

“No.” She sighed, looking down. “It’s not.”

“Hm.” Bitch-sensei stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Well, I’m sure you kids will think of something.” She smiled slightly. “A word of warning though…”

Mitsuko looked up curiously. “Huh.”

She sipped her latte and smiled slyly. “Take it from someone with experience with backstabbing, when the times comes you brats are going to have to rely on yourselves to get the job done.” She rested her chin in her hand. “The Government isn’t your friends…and even when the time comes, Karasuma and I won’t be able to help. You kids will be on your own.”

Mitsuko tensed, narrowing her eyes warily. “And is that all you can tell me?”

Bitch-sensei smirked. “Hey, I’m just in the dark as much as you kids—I’m just going on instinct.” Her smirk widened. “And Karasuma has been absent a lot lately, don’t you think?”

Her mouth set in a thin line. “True…”

_The 1 st of March was twelve days away… they didn’t have much time._

“Well, thanks for the heads up.” Mitsuko drank the rest of her drink and placed it on the desk. “Even if it was cryptic.”

Bitch-sensei looked amused. “I’m just letting you know.” She sipped her drink leisurely. “If you kids are real assassins, backstabbing is a part of the game.”

* * *

Mitsuko sat next to her brother opposite their dad in the Ice cream parlour Booth.

“How is the Ice-cream?” dad asked pleasantly, before drinking his coffee.

“It’s nice.” She shrugged, having devoured half of the Strawberry and Banana Sundae already.

“Yes.” Gakushuu wiped his mouth with a napkin when some of his bubblegum ice cream got on his chin. “This is a nice place.”

“Good.” Dad nodded, sipping some coffee. “I thought it would be a nice change of scenery.” He looked around at the obnoxiously colourful décor which had red and white striped walls and lots of images of fruit painted around. “It’s….colourful.”

Mitsuko hummed, glancing at her brother who shrugged. The two of them ate most of their ice cream in silence or a while until their dad’s constant staring started to freak her out a bit.

“So…” She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “You wanted to bring us here to eat ice cream, because…?”

Dad sipped his coffee. “Well, I assume you all recall Tuesday Night—“

“Where you burst into the room and started yelling at her?” Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. “Yes, we remember.”

Dad sighed. “I admit I should have been less confrontation.” He frowned. “But I can’t abide with your mother’s reckless behaviour.”

She sighed. “We know you’re just worried, dad, but we just think you could have handled it a little better.”

Their dad grimaced. “Your mother is childish. My concern is that her habits will jeopardise both of your futures.” He eyed them sternly. “I won’t have your education compromised if she becomes dependent on you both.”

Mitsuko exchanged a grim look with her brother. “We know there’s a risk, and we know we can’t let mom’s bad habits ruin our future,” she said hesitantly. “But yelling at her and scaring her isn’t helping, dad…”

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. “And considering how you’ve treated her over the years, it’s not very surprising that she’s emotionally immature.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a big consequence of always trying to control her life,” Mitsuko commented dryly.

Dad sighed again. “I’ll admit I may have been—“

She raised an eyebrow. “ _May_?”

His eyes narrowed. “I was overprotective of her…I also have been slightly controlling.”

Gakushuu obnoxiously licked the ice cream off his spoon. “ _Slightly?”_

Dad sighed in exasperation. “I realise my actions may… _did_ have negative repercussions on her mental health.”

Mitsuko nodded, pointing her spoon at him. “Better.”

“Your mother is clearly not stable still,” dad continued.

She frowned, growing on edge. “Yeah, but neither are you?”

“Will you let me finished?” dad replied impatiently.

Mitsuko scowled while Gakushuu eyed their dad warily.

“I know I’ve done my fair share of damages,” dad said, sighing. “But what I am proposing is that, if your mother doesn’t improve, I think it would be better if you lived with me permanently.”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened. “You want us, to live with _you_ permanently?”

“If your mother doesn’t show signs of improvement, then yes,” he replied.

The two of them stared at him apprehensively.

“…Are you trying to force custody from mom?” she asked hesitantly.

Dad sighed. “I would never force anything unless I had to.”

“So that’s a firm yes?” Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at him.

Dad looked annoyed. “I’m perfectly aware of the reasons why you want to stay with your mother,” he said evenly. “I’m also perfectly aware you both don’t feel safe living with me alone, which is understandable.” He grimaced. “But, if you’re mother starts jeopardising your future, I will need to step in.”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed. “We are perfectly capable of living on our own if need be.”

“I will not have you run wild. You’re far too young to be living on your own,” Dad said sternly. “I am just relaying my concerns, as any parent would do.”

Mitsuko nearly rolled her eyes, looking at her brother who scoffed. “Look, we know you’re just parenting the best way you know how, dad.” She sighed. “And we… _appreciate_ that you’re showing concern.”

Her brother looked annoyed. “But if you’re going to turn into a helicopter parent then I think I prefer you just being our Principal.”

“I am not helicopter parenting.” Their dad’s eyes narrowed at that. “You two are bound for success, and I will not let anyone or thing ruin your bright future.” Then he frowned. “…And happiness,” he added as an afterthought. “That’s important as well of course.”

She groaned in exasperation because that sounded a lot like helicopter parenting…

_Fine, let him be in denial._

“Dad, we know mom has issues, and we’re convincing her to get some help for them,” she told him. “But we can’t treat her like a child, we have to give her a chance.”

“We have no intention on letting our future ambitions be put on hold,” Gakushuu said firmly. “And to imply as much is quite frankly insulting.” He narrowed his eyes at dad. “If mom slips back into bad habits she’ll get the help she needs, and if that is the worst-case scenario, _then and only then_ , will we decide to make you our primary guardian. Out of _necessity._ ”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened at the directness but then raised an eyebrow when their dad actually started to look relieved.

“Good.” Dad smiled faintly, looking pleased. “That is reassuring, so long as you both keep your goals in mind.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Don’t worry, dad, we’ll be okay.”

He hummed, looking between them both for a long while until he sighed quietly. “Yes, I suppose you will be.”

Her smile grew a little, glancing at her brother who rolled his eyes.

“Of course there is still the issue of how us three not living together constantly will affect your schedules.” Dad smiled at them brightly. “Which is why I’ve found a solution!”

Mitsuko frowned. “A solution?”

“What are you talking about?” Gakushuu asked warily.

Dad pulled out his phone and showed them the screen. “I’ve signed us all up for a parent-child scheduling app.” His smile grew while they just stared at him in alarm. “That way I can keep track of where you are, what you’re doing, and assign homework sheets for you to fill out!”

_Oh, God no…._

Mitsuko exchanged a helpless look with her brother. “Uh…that’s…”

“Is that really necessary?” Her brother looked faintly worried.

“Of course!” Dad’s brow furrowed. “I still need to be assigning you some evaluation tests to make sure you’re not falling behind—after all, Gakushuu, you’re slipping with your Violin Practice and Mitsuko, you need to catch-up on your Mandarin.”

The two of them stared at him in exasperation.

“Uh, but I thought we were toning down the obsessive studying?” Mitsuko argued, sweating.

“Oh, we are,” dad replied lightly. “Not to worry, look…” He scrolled down to show the schedule had greyed out squares on some of the timeslots. “I’ve put down one hour each day of _Non-study_ activity and even put and extra _three hours_ down on Saturday and Sunday!”

Mitsuko’s eyes widened. “Huh, that is more than expected…”

“I’m surprised it’s longer than ten minutes,” Gakushuu said dryly.

“But still…” She frowned, remembering what Koro-sensei said about having free time. “We’re not downloading the app unless you give us _two hours_ per day of non-study time.”

Dad's eyes widened. “Two hours?” His brow furrowed. “I’m not sure that—“

“It’s non-negotiable,” her brother replied sternly, finishing off his ice-cream. “We’re not downloading the stupid app unless you consider our terms as well…”

Dad looked displeased, rubbing his chin as they glared back stubbornly. “Well, I suppose that’s…reasonable.”

“And we’re allowed to make last-minute cancellations,” Mitsuko added, crossing her arms. “You can’t just expect us to follow it religiously—we do have social lives.”

“…Well, if you do cancel an activity it does send an alert,” dad commented, humming. “I suppose that way you can catch up on anything missed.”

Mitsuko sighed, shaking her head. “Well, that’s some progress.”

Dad hummed, tapping on his phone as he looked through the app. “Oh, look.” He smiled pleasantly, showing them a map on the phone. “It even has a live tracker built-in.”

The two of them stared at him blankly for a long second.

Mitsuko grabbed his phone and hurled it across the room, scaring the other customers and waitress. 

* * *

Mitsuko didn’t like the sofa she and her brother had been forced to sit on the in an overly boring room they were in.

For one thing, the windows were too large and let it too much light. There were too many large bookcases aligning the walls. The whole place was a colour theme of ugly browns which was disgusting.

Her parents were sat at the opposite side as far away from each other as possible while Gakushuu and her were positioned in the middle which seemed extremely deliberate.

And to make matters worse, the family therapist was an old man with an obnoxiously warm smile.

“Now, does anyone have any questions before we start?” The therapist, Dr Yokoyama, asked them.

There was a long stretch of silence.

Mom fidgeted nervously, looking at her children and then to her soon to be ex-husband.

Dad looked bored and kept shooting the Dr Yokoyama annoyed looks.

Then Gakushuu slowly raised his hand.

“Yes, Asano?”

He cleared his throat. “I don’t think I need to be here,” her brother said firmly, crossing his arms as he glared at the man. “I’m the most stable one in this family.”

Mitsuko buried her face in her hand.

_It was going to be a long session._


	68. I think we made some progress!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ooh, the writer's block is back. A lot happened this week so I haven't been writing this much so I'm writing some of this to help boost some inspiration.

"So..." Dr Yokoyama smiled at the two of them. "What would you like to talk about?"

Mitsuko frowned, while Gakushuu crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Um..." She grimaced. "Do we have to talk to you?" She smiled sheepishly. "No offence, but we're only here because our mom wouldn't go to therapy unless we all went as well..."

Dr Yokoyama shrugged, writing something down in his notepad. "Well, that's alright, we can just sit in silence if you'd like." He smiled in amusement. "But your session is paid for so there is no refund if you leave early."

"Well, okay..." Mitsuko exchanged an annoyed look with her brother. "This seems like a pretty easy job then."

The therapist chuckled. "It is quite cushy, and the pay is a big benefit—most people just want someone to listen."

Mitsuko hummed as they settled into a peaceful quiet as the clock ticked by.

Dr Yokoyama seemed fine with the silence, he was a nice enough looking man with a square-like face and a few grey hairs in black hair which were slicked back. He had a horrible taste in ties though since the current one he had looked like the '80s had vomited on it with ugly browns and yellows.

She looked around the office curiously, there was a lot of stuff and books around until her eyes widened when she saw the collection of Bonsai trees near the window.

It was more extravagant than the one in her dad's office, and they were surrounded by a glass terrain like it was a fielded landscape.

"Did you make that yourself?" She stood up and walked over to it.

"Yes, it's a hobby," Dr Yokoyama replied.

Mitsuko peered into the terrain and poked the glass. "Our dad raises Bonsai trees."

"Really?" He hummed, tapping his pencil against his chin. "I think he mentioned something about it." He smiled. "Did your father show you how to raise them?"

"Uh, no..." She frowned, looking over her shoulder. "I wanted to but..." She sighed, straightening up. "Anyway, it's a cool terrain."

"Well, thank you," he replied, writing something down.

Gakushuu's eyes narrowed. "What are you writing?"

"Just personal notes." The therapist replied while still writing. "I make notes for your parents' session as well, it helps keep track."

Mitsuko wandered over. "Really?" She tried to peer over his shoulder and look at the notes but he closed the cover. "Oh, come on, can't we see?"

"I can show you your notes but not your parents," he told them both. "Everything we talk about in this room has to be private." He smiled sheepishly. "Unless you admit to murder—then I'd have to report you to the police."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with her brother.

"So legally you're not allowed to tell our parents anything that we say?" she asked warily.

"So long as it's not something illegal or self-harming," he replied, glancing at his bonsai tree terrain. "So your father never let you help him with the bonsai trees?"

"No," Gakushuu said stiffly, narrowing his eyes.

Mitsuko sat down next to her brother and smiled apologetically at the therapist. "Um, unless it was about education our dad wasn't a sharer..."

Dr Yokoyama hummed, rubbing his chin as he looked at his notes. "It was mentioned in your file that your mother went away for a number of months, to a rehabilitation facility?"

She looked at her brother who just scowled. "Uh, yeah, that's right."

"That must have been difficult," he said, smiling faintly.

"Yes, well it was a long time ago," Gakushuu replied stiffly.

"Yeah, we're pretty much over it," she added lightly, and then narrowed her eyes at the man when he wrote something down. "Look if you want to know how we feel about our parents, we think they're useless," she said bluntly, crossing her arms. "They're trying to make amends for the past and sort out their own issues—which is why we've been dragged along for the ride."

"Exactly," her brother said firmly. "We're the only ones in the family who are actually stable."

"Yes, you did say," the therapist remarked lightly.

"Obviously we had some issues," Mitsuko said uncomfortably. "But we worked through them together and we're fine now."

"I see." Dr Yokoyama kept nodding as he wrote more stuff down in his book. "Well I'm glad you both feel fine, but I'm curious about something." His brow furrowed. "You said your parents were useless—are you referring to their obsessive habits." He tapped his pen. "From my judgment, they seemed very..."

Mitsuko tensed along with her brother. "Very what?" She scowled when the therapist shrugged.

What had their parents been telling him?!

"They're not..." Gakushuu paused. "They weren't good parents."

"No." She grimaced. "They weren't..." Her brow furrowed. "And if they said they were good then they're lying!"

Dr Yokoyama's frown deepened. "I see..." He looked through his notes. "Your father is the Principal at your school. Correct?"

"Yes," Gakushuu replied curtly.

"He's won a lot of awards for educator of the year." The older man looked at them curiously. "He has quite the respectful reputation...I can imagine it would make it difficult to try to tell people an alternative opinion."

Gakushuu's eyes narrowed warily while Mitsuko held her brother's hand tight and smiled at him reassuringly.

"Fortunately I don't have any personal opinions on him, it would be unprofessional." Dr Yokoyama smiled faintly while they remained silent and wrote something else down in the notebook. "I'm simply here to observe and draw a conclusion based on my academic knowledge."

Mitsuko frowned, curling her hands in her skirt while glancing at Gakushuu cautiously.

There was another long pause as the two of them stared at the other man in the armchair.

The silence started to feel overbearing and there was a tightness in her chest which kept getting worse.

"...There were lessons," she spoke up hesitantly. "That he'd teach us." She looked over at her brother wondering if he'd try to object but he stayed silent. "About strength."

Dr Yokoyama looked interested, writing down something. "Interesting. What kind of lessons?"

* * *

"Come on," Mitsuko hissed as she and her brother leaned against the closet door trying to open it.

They were in darkness with only a crack of light providing an outline for them to see. It was a small dark space full of old paper files which made the small space dusty and there were spiders which kept sneaking up and trying to crawl down their necks.

"It won't budge," Gakushuu complained, rattling the handle while he tried to pick the lock.

"But I need the bathroom..."

She shut her eyes tight and gritted her teeth, pushing harder on the door to try to open it. It had been two hours and if she didn't get out she'd—

There was a sharp click, and then a second later the door was yanked open from the other side.

Mitsuko yelped when the closet door was opened and she and her brother fell flat on the ground in front of their father's shiny polished shoes.

She groaned and strained to lift her head to look up at their dad who was holding her Rubix cube in hand.

"I have an experiment I'll need your help answering, children," dad told them pleasantly.

Mitsuko scrambled to her feet as Gakushuu helped her stand up. "What?"

"It's 'excuse me', not 'what', Mitsuko," Dad corrected absently as he focussed on the cube. "Remember your manners."

She scowled and glared at him when he turned towards his desk. "That's my cube."

"Yes, I'm aware." Their father sat down in an armchair near one of his large bookcases.

Mitsuko looked at her brother hesitantly before holding his hand and walking over to their dad.

"I'm curious about something." Their dad smiled at them and held up the cube. "Gakushuu, solve the cube."

Her brother jerked and scrambled to catch the Rubix cub when it was tossed at him. "How long do—?"

"Sixty seconds." Dad pulled out a metal watch timer from his pocket. "Begin."

Gakushuu's eyes widened in alarm as he quickly tried to solve the cube, swivelling the sides frantically as the time ticked away loudly.

Mitsuko watched anxiously as her brother tried to solve the cube as the seconds went by. She wrung her hands. "Come on..." she mumbled under her breath as he completed one side and then the yellow side.

"Done!" Gakushuu yelled, sweating as he held up the finished cube in front of their dad anxiously. "I finished."

Dad's thumb clicked the top of the watch, staring down at him. "55 seconds." He didn't sound impressed. "Mitsuko." He took the cube and shuffled it again. "Now it's your turn."

She quickly caught it. "O-okay."

"Begin."

She swallowed and quickly ran through the formula she'd adapted from the original one Gakushuu used, remembering how many times she'd had to practice. It was one of her favourite toys and few remaining ones left since dad had decided they were too old for dolls or plastic cars; things like that were a distraction apparently.

 _It's just a game._ She reminded herself so she wouldn't get upset or frantic, trying to imagine she was alone and just playing with the cube in her room.

Mitsuko mumbled the sequence under her breath as she solved two more sides while her brother and dad watched her.

"Done!" Her eyes lit up with relief, holding the cube up.

Dad stopped the timer. "40 seconds." He sounded pleased, making her nearly tear up when she saw the small smile on his face. "Very good, Mitsuko."

Her smile was wide and bright as her dad patted her on the head, feeling like there was a warm light shining down on her.

_I was faster than Gakushuu!_

But then she faltered when she saw her brother's eyes narrow from the corner of her eye.

"But there's a much quicker method than the ones you both used." Dad took the cube from her. "One that I believe requires less time to learn."

Mitsuko frowned when she saw their dad take out a screwdriver. "What method is—?"

She and her brother flinched back when their dad jammed the screwdriver into the Rubix cube and sent the small square pieces scattering across the red rug.

Mitsuko's chest tightened painfully when she saw her toy broken on the floor. "You broke it..."

"Exactly," dad said brightly, smiling down at them. "And now you'll need to put it back together—quickly now, gather all the pieces."

She looked confused but then quickly sank to her knees and gathered up the pieces in her arms.

"Now put it back together." Dad held up the timer. "Begin."

Mitsuko tensed and quickly tried to put the squares back into place, starting with the corners and then hastily did the sides until the cube was complete.

Dad stopped the timer. "35 seconds." He frowned faintly. "...Interesting."

She grimaced as he took the cube without even glancing at her. "Gakushuu, now you try."

Her brother's eyes narrowed in focus as the cube was broken again and the pieces scattered on the rug.

"Begin."

Mitsuko watched in surprise as her brother meticulously stuck each little cube back into place with accurate precision. His fingers were moving so fast she could barely see them move.

"Done." Gakushuu held up the finished cube as their dad stopped the timer.

"17 seconds." Dad looked pleased, smiling faintly. "Very good."

She hunched her shoulder up and lowered her gaze as her brother was patted on the head by their dad.

Dad took the cube from her brother. "Now, let's repeat the process to see if we can get a faster time and then we will compare the results again."

Mitsuko and her brother both frowned up at him and then winced when the cube was broken again.

Dad smiled and started the timer. "Begin."

* * *

"...And how many times did you break the cube?" Dr Yokoyama turned a page in his notebook to continue writing.

"Twenty-three times," Mitsuko replied, shrugging. "It broke on the 24th time because the plastic cracked."

"I see..." The therapist muttered, frowning. "And...why were you locked in the closet?"

"Oh, I got a 75% on a test and Gakushuu knocked over a vase by accident," she replied, shrugging.

Dr Yokoyama wrote something else down in his notebook. "Interesting..."

Gakushuu scowled. "He doesn't do it anymore."

"Yeah, he stopped doing that when we were thirteen and got too big," Mitsuko said quickly, giving a strained laugh. "Good thing too because that closet was pretty cramped already..."

"The point is we're perfectly safe at home!" Gakushuu said quickly, narrowing his eyes at the man. "So don't start getting any ideas."

"Ah." The therapist looked sheepish. "I'm not in the business of tearing up siblings and families."

Her brother eyed him warily. "But you have a legal obligation to report any abuse."

"Well, actually I have a standard of ethics I have to abide by," Dr Yokoyama replied. "If I believed your life was in danger, then yes, I would need to report it...but I don't believe that's the case here." He wrote something down. "Hm...how do you feel after telling me that story?"

Mitsuko frowned, shifting uncomfortably. "Um...okay, I guess." She fidgeted. "Dad's changed a lot since then so...so it doesn't matter as much, well at least not as much as it did." She shrugged. "There's no point staying angry when everyone's moved on, right?"

"We've already talked through our issues _together_." Her brother said firmly, holding her hand tight. "So how is talking to you meant to help us exactly?"

Dr Yokoyama hummed, tapping his pen against his chin as he stared at their clasped hands and then back at them, making her grow more uneasy. "Think of it as a...outside perspective to things."

Mitsuko frowned, remembering how Koro-sensei had said something similar. "He has a point," she said, smiling at the man. "It could be nice having someone to talk to."

Gakushuu scowled at her, looking annoyed. He looked back at the therapist and glared.

She squeezed his hand reassuringly and smiled. "It'll be okay."

Her brother's scowl stayed in place but his glare faded. "Very well..."

Mitsuko smiled, sighing in relief.

_I think we made some progress!_


	69. You cling too tight

Mitsuko snuggled her face into Rio’s lap while the two of them were laying cuddling on the couch in the living room while Mr Nakamura was still at work and Mrs Nakamura was busy painting something in her study.

She closed her eyes as Rio’s slim fingers massaged her scalp, making her want to drift off to sleep.

“You look cute like this,” Rio sounded amused.

“Then take a picture,” she mumbled, smothering a yawn.

Her girlfriend gave a short laugh, which was followed by some shuffling. “Okay.”

Mitsuko winced when a bright light interrupted her almost-sleep when the photo was taken. “Hey!”

“Aw, so cute!” Rio cooed.

Mitsuko scowled and sat up, whacking Rio with one of the couch cushions. “Jerk.”

She just kept laughing, wrapping an arm around Mitsuko’s waist to pull her close. “I’m sending it to Karma.”

“Why?!” Mitsuko glared at her, turning her face away when Rio tried to kiss her.

“Because he thinks they’re funny.” Rio kissed her shoulder instead and then trailed kisses up her neck. “You smell nice.”

Mitsuko grinned, trying to turn her neck to look at her. “It’s that perfume you got me.” She grabbed Rio’s jaw and kissed her sweetly. “Very good taste I might add.”

“Glad you liked it, I was kind of terrified it’d be too cheap…” Rio admitted.

“I’m not a complete snob, Rio,” she replied, smirking. “I would have been happy with anything you got me.” She pulled away to stretch, yawning. “It did shut my dad up, though.”

“Yeah, that was also a part of the plan,” Rio replied, grinning.

Mitsuko smiled apologetically. “Sorry he’s been giving you a hard time,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “He’s such a snob he doesn’t think anyone is good enough to date me or my brother.”

“Yeah, I noticed…”Her girlfriend’s smile wavered. “It can be a bit intense sometimes, a lot of high standards I guess…”

Mitsuko’s smile faded when she saw the uncertainty on the other girl’s face. “Yeah, it’s…it can be hard.” She held her hand. “He’s so stubborn as well so it’s either one extreme or the other with him.”

“Exactly.” Rio’s smile returned. “Which is why we shouldn’t care about his opinion.”

“I mean…he’s still my dad so I do still kind of care.” Mitsuko shrugged awkwardly. “I’m not as obsessed over his approval as before but I still want him to be proud of me.”

Rio’s smile faded a little. “Well, yeah…” She gave an apprehensive laugh. “I just don’t want him to try to control our relationship, I mean your brother is bad enough…”

“He’s just protective…” Mitsuko sighed, looking away. “He’s still clingy so it’s hard for him, but he’s improving a lot!”

“I know…” Her girlfriend shifted. “But it would nice if he didn’t always interrupt us when we were kissing and whenever I’m around he always glared—like name ONE time where he’s actually said something nice to me?”

“Uh…” Mitsuko grimaced. “Well, yeah, true…” She sighed. “I have been trying to tell them to be nicer, but like I said, they’re stubborn…and Gakushuu doesn’t actually hate you.”

If anything her dad and Gakushuu attitude toward Rio had improved, they’d gone from complete loathing and disapproval to only slight disapproval and dislike. _That was practically a milestone!_

That didn’t seem to make Rio feel any better. “Right…”

Mitsuko frowned, squeezing her hand. “If there’s something else you want to tell me, you can…”

Rio sighed, not looking at her for a long while as the two of them sat in silence. Her girlfriend’s brow furrowed when she looked up, staring at her with some apprehension.

Then Rio sighed again. “I…okay, try to think of it like this—“

Mitsuko tensed when the alarm on her phone went off.

Ah, shit. The two hours of free time were over.

“Sorry!” Mitsuko reached into her pocket and took out her phone. “It’s my alarm…”

“Oh, okay.” Rio frowned and then sighed. “So your two-hour break is over then?”

“Yeah…” Mitsuko gave a feeble laugh. “But I have ten minutes until mom will be here so…” She held her hand again. “You were saying?”

Rio stared at her for a moment. “…Could you stay longer?”

“Huh?” Mitsuko looked confused slightly. “You want me to stay late…?”

There was a long pause of silence as she started to frown.

It wasn’t like she could just completely upheave her entire schedule so last minute, mom would be here soon and she needed to practice

Rio opened then closed her mouth. “No,” she said quickly, laughing. “Shit. No. Sorry.” She kissed her, smiling. “It’s fine. You have a schedule and a curfew. I get it.”

Mitsuko grew uneasy. “I mean…it’s just a little last-minute—“

“I know,” Rio said quickly, laughing. “Yeah, don’t worry it’s okay.” She smiled at her. “I’m on my period so I’m just being clingy.”

“Oh.” Mitsuko laughed slightly. “Oh, right. Okay then.” She smiled faintly. “I can stay longer another day, I just need to re-arrange a few things and finalise a day How about that?”

“Well we don’t really have to plan it,” Rio replied, shrugging. “We could be… spontaneous.”

“Spontaneous?” Mitsuko frowned. “I don’t understand?”

“I just mean, we could not follow the same plan _every_ day.”

“…I’m sorry, what?” Mitsuko looked more confused. “How would that work?”

Rio sighed. “It’d just be random, you know we wouldn’t have to worry about accurate times and stuff…”

_But then how would they keep track of everything?_

Mitsuko’s frown deepened until her phone buzzed again. “That’ll be my mom.” She took out her phone and saw the text. “She’s parked outside.”

Her girlfriend nodded. “Right.” The smile on her face looked strained. “I’ll see you at school then.”

She tried to ignore the uneasiness. “Yeah.” Mitsuko smiled and kissed her. “I’ll text you.”

* * *

“And that’s how I saved her life and cured her from being blind,” Koro-sensei explained his Winter Break adventure to her over a cup of tea by the window. The two of them knelt in front of a small table while they sat on cushions.

Mitsuko gawked. “You—how the hell did you cure her from becoming blind!” she yelled. “And how—you seriously did brain surgery on her?!”

He sipped his tea. “Well, I am amazing.”

She wanted to hurl her tea at him. “NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE?!”

Koro-sensei chuckled. “But that’s not what you should be focusing on here, Mitsuko.”

Her eyes twitched. “Sir, your abilities are bordering on Godlike, if anything we’re not focusing enough on it.”

He drank his tea and sighed. “What we should be focusing on is how that no matter what their previous sins, those men I befriended came together to protect a mother and her daughter.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Not sure that absolves them from their life of crime but fine, whatever, I guess they did a good job of redeeming themselves.”

“Exactly!” Koro-sensei finished his tea and placed it down on the small table, sniffling as he wiped away a tear. “It’s such a heart-warming tale it makes me tear up just talking about it!”

She rolled her eyes. “Sir, you’ll cry over a piece of cake.”

“And what’s wrong with that!” he exclaimed defensively. "That's perfectly normal!"

“Yeah, if you’re an overgrown baby.”

“I am not a baby!”

She sipped her tea. “Right, babies are too cute—you’re more of an overgrown ugly man-child.”

He went red in the face. “Mitsuko!”

A low chuckle interrupted them when the Principal slid the door open, his suitcase in hand.

“Don’t be rude to your teacher, Mitsuko.” Her dad walked into the room, raising an eyebrow at her. “Where are your manners?”

Mitsuko smirked. “I was just being honest.” She finished her tea and placed it on the table. “Thank you for the tea, sir!” She bowed her head respectfully and then grinned at him. “And for keeping me company while I waited for my dad to finish work.”

Dad looked amused and patted her on the head. “Much better.”

“Well, it’s no trouble,” Koro-sensei said, looking happy by the exchange. “I enjoy the company.”

Mitsuko stood up and dusted off her knees. “Gakushuu said he’d meet us at the movie theatre.”

Her dad nodded. “Yes, he did text.”

“What movie are you going to see?” Koro-sensei asked.

“Some lame superhero movie Gakushuu wanted to see,” Mitsuko replied. “I wanted to see a horror movie but apparently that’s not _age-appropriate_.” She rolled her eyes. “Like they’re actually scary.”

“Rules are rules.” Dad smiled obnoxiously. “And we could have gone with my suggestion instead.”

She crossed her arms. “Dad, none of us want to sit through two hours of watching a documentary on the creation of the universe!”

“But it really is fascinating.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “And the special effects are phenomenal.”

“Still boring,” she replied dryly, picking up her school bag. “Anyway, let’s go before traffic builds up.”

“Indeed.” Dad checked his phone. “Gakushuu has marked Judo Practice complete on his schedule and he’s already halfway to the movie theatre.”

“Will you stop using that app to stalk us,” Mitsuko complained.

Dad smiled pleasantly. “A parent has to keep track of their child, and with this, I’ll never have to worry about where you are!”

Mitsuko grimaced. “You’re such a creep…” Then she smiled at her teacher. “See you tomorrow, sir.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waved at her. “Have fun.”

She smiled as she and her dad walked out of the Old Campus.

“When is your next career counselling session?” Dad asked as he kept looking at his phone as they walked down the mountain.

“Tomorrow, but I’ve already prepared,” she told him. “I’m going to ask him for help drafting some letters for potential universities.” She smiled with excitement. “I’ve spoken with a few charities to help with some volunteer work for the summer.”

Dad nodded, putting away his phone. “Yes, it’s good to plan ahead.” He smiled at her. “The press loves their potential Nobel Prize winners to have a strong history of showing initiative from a young age—it’s good press coverage.”

She nodded. “I know, I’ve been doing some research into it—I’ve outlined a few future goals and I’ll be focusing on promoting and encouraging reforms in Japan, especially in the equality sector.”

Dad frowned, concerned. “Japan is a good starting point but aren’t you going to branch out further?”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously, dad.” She smiled crookedly. “I’ll move onto Taiwan next, and then Shanghai for other projects, as well and Beijing. Then the next steps will be tackling the remaining developing countries.”

“Good.” He looked relieved. “We’ll practice your Mandarin tonight after the movie and then that will leave room for tomorrow to go through the list of universities.”

Mitsuko nodded, smiling to herself. “Yeah, okay.”

He smiled at her. “Remember, it’s important to think big and thrive towards greatness.”

_He really thinks I can win the Nobel Prize!_

Something about that made her feel like she could do anything, it was like an electric shock of energy every time he praised her. It felt like when she’d been little ad he’d told her how smart she was and how much she could accomplish anything.

It was like being starved for months and then gradually presented with a large feast, sometimes she was worried it would all disappear…

Rio might think her schedule was too crowded, but there was so much she was accomplishing, and it’d be worth it in the long run! Sometimes ambition required a bit of sacrifice, and it wasn’t like she didn’t have a good social life. Two hours of non-study time seemed more than enough compared to what it had been like in years previous.

Her smile grew when she felt a burst of happiness. “I know, I’m excited.”

Without thinking she curled her arm around his, and then second-guessed when his arm tensed up, caught off guard. To her relief he didn’t pull away and just smiled at her, causing her to tighten her grip in case he changed his mind.

“You should be.” Dad’s smile looked fond. “You and your brother will be great.” He ruffled her hair. “Shining stars among men.” Then his gaze lit up. “And speaking of stars, there’s a meteor shower tomorrow night at seven.”

She looked up at him. “It sounds interesting but Rio wanted to go to the park so I already have plans.”

“Oh.” Dad frowned faintly. “Very well then. Well, make sure to mark it in the diary.”

“Okay.” She raised an eyebrow at his tone, thinking back to what Rio had said. “Hey, dad, when you were my age, did you have a schedule?”

He didn’t reply straight away. “…Of course.” His tone was stiff. “It’s important to be well organised.”

“Well, yeah, that’s true…” She hummed. “Did you organise your own or did your parents do it for you?”

There was another pause. “I organised it myself.”

She looked up again, intrigued. “Yeah, but you wouldn’t have done that when you were a little kid.”

“No, I did.” His arm tensed up like he wanted to pull away. “I’ve always been well organised.”

Mitsuko frowned, keeping a firm hold of his arm so he couldn’t pull away. “Yeah, but didn’t your parents—?”

“We should ring your brother to make sure he knows we’re on our way.” Dad’s voice brightened to something pleasant as he took his phone from his pocket. “You know how impatient he can be sometimes.”

Her frown deepened, watching him warily. “Right…”

* * *

“…I’m telling you, the ending made perfect sense,” Gakushuu insisted as they walked out of the screening.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes as she walked alongside him and their dad. “How was that last-minute reveal a good ending? It made no sense!”

“It made perfect sense if you were paying attention,” her brother replied primly.

“Stop using that as an excuse for bad movie plots,” she argued, rolling her eyes.

Dad chuckled lightly. “It was entertaining, though there were a few plot holes.”

Gakushuu huffed, crossing his arms as they stopped in the lobby where other people were coming and going. “Well, it’s better than the movies you all wanted to see—a documentary on the universe, really, dad?”

“That would have been boring,” Mitsuko agreed, wrapping her arms around her dad’s middle in a hug.

Dad patted her on the head while her head was nestled underneath his arm. “I disagree.” He held her close. “You liked the stargazing.”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Gakushuu replied, rolling his eyes, looking over at the movies poster. “I’m not going to waste two hours staring at a screen when I can see the real thing.”

Dad seemed to find that funny, a spark in his eyes, glancing down at Mitsuko who was nestled by his side and then her brother. “No, you’d rather spend it observing cheap special effects.” He reached out and wrapped an arm around him like he was trying to pull him close. “Rather than actually—“

Gakushuu flinched and jerked back when their dad’s arms arm wrapped around him. Just for a second.

Mitsuko tensed when she saw it and dad instantly retracted his arm when he and her brother made eye-contact.

_Shit._

Her brother looked briefly horrified before expression became closed off. “Sorry…I was…I was distracted.”

Dad’s hand retracted further. “Of course.”

A horrible tension settled between them.

Mitsuko grimaced, pulling away from their father so she could next to her brother. “Let’s buy ice cream on the way home!” she said a little too cheerfully, trying to remove the ugly silence which had now come on. “I really want strawberry.” She held her brother's hand and smiled so hard it hurt. “What do you think?”

“That sounds fine,” he replied, squeezing her hand tight. “I am still hungry.”

“Yes.” Dad’s expression was passive, the spark leaving his eyes. “I know a store that’s still open, we can go there on the way home.”

“Great!” She nodded, keeping a tight hols of her brother’s hand as they walked. 


	70. Why couldn’t she understand?!

Mitsuko sat opposite Koro-sensei as she read through the notes he'd made on her draft letters for potential universities—he'd gone through all ten on them.

"Thanks for doing this, sir," she said, smiling up at him gratefully.

"Well it is part of my job," Koro-sensei sipped his tea. "I have to admit, you've definitely worked me hard with this career counselling." He chuckled. "I've really had to step up my game."

She smiled crookedly. "Good. You really need to earn that paycheck!"

He ducked his head to hide a scowl. "I would if you and your father stopped cutting my pay..."

Her smirk grew when she heard. "But it's fun."

"Mitsuko! Playing with my livelihood is not a game!" he said, flustered. "Honestly..." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're worse than Karma sometimes..." He wiped his eyes. "I'm still emotionally recovering from when he stole my purse."

"I could just steal your money outright if that would make you feel better," she offered pleasantly.

"NO!"

She grinned, filing the letters into her folder. "Sorry, but you're just too fun to tease." Her smile grew fond, resting the folder on her lap. "Thanks, again for doing this, it really is a big help."

Koro-sensei looked pleased. "Well, you did say you're less anxious about your future, that's something I want to continue as you enter high school."

"Things do seem less hopeless." She ran her hand over the glossy front of the folder. "And it's fun planning and learning stuff with my dad; he really believes I'll be great."

Koro-sensei nodded. "That's good to hear," he replied. "I'm glad things are better between you both...you did seem happier yesterday. Did you have fun at the movies?"

Her smile wavered. "Uh, yeah, we did." She hugged the folder tight to her chest. "It's nice hanging out together and doing stuff which is fun—dad was thinking of taking us bowling but Gakushuu doesn't like wearing stranger's shoes, and dad wanted us to see a meteor shower today but I have plans with Rio."

"Oh, you do?!" Koro-sensei's gaze lit up.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw the look in his eye. "Don't even think about following us!"

He blushed. "I-I wasn't going to!" He turned away suspiciously. "...And what's wrong with being curious in my student's love lives?"

"Because it's creepy!" she snapped, glaring. "It's already bad enough my dad will be tracking our date with his stupid app."

Koro-sensei perked up. "Oh, why is he tracking you?"

She sighed in exasperation. "He's worried things will turn out bad like on Valentine's day." She rolled her eyes. "He's being ridiculous but even mom is saying it's a good idea."

"Why, what happened on Valentine's day?"

Mitsuko gave a strained laugh. "Just some asshole being homophobic, so I...Pepper sprayed him."

"Oh, my." Koro-sensei looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, so we had to run, and then we ended up in this dodgy karaoke bar."

"What?!" He looked alarmed now.

"It's fine, we left quickly." She waved her hand dismissively. "But my parents are still freaking out about that part..."

"I see." Koro-sensei hummed as he sipped his tea. "I can understand why they're being so overprotective." He rubbed his head. "Your mother has been sending me a few emails of complaints..." He gave a strained chuckle. "She wasn't pleased about the space incident."

"What did you expect?"

"Heh. True. I suppose in hindsight they're also being very lenient." Koro-sensei rubbed his chin. "Your father is a controlling man I suppose it is another form of control—have you tried talking to him?"

She shrugged, growing uneasy. "Not really, like I said, things have been really good so I didn't really want to spoil it—dad's being really nice lately, and I'm trying to make sure he doesn't manipulate me but it's hard because I want him to be proud and he's my dad..."

He nodded. "I understand it can be tricky when we can't fully trust the ones we love." Koro-sensei sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I loved the student I took in like a son but I was afraid of what would happen if he realised that." His tone grew subdued. "There was always some barrier..."

Mitsuko nodded, grimacing. "Dad still keeps a distance, or he'll change the subject when he doesn't like where the conversation is heading."

"It can be difficult confronting our feelings or past," Koro-sensei told her gently. "I believe your father is still afraid, and that might take some more time for him to work through."

"I guess..." She sighed, gripping the folder tight.

* * *

Mitsuko looked around somewhat cautiously as she held her girlfriend's hand, the two of them walking through the park. The sun was starting to set, casting warm glows of oranges and peach tones across the park.

"So how'd the career counselling session go?" Rio asked.

"It went really well." She replied, checking her phone when it buzzed.

Her dad had posted a comment on the planner card **. : Don't go near the east side of the park, police have reported a high statistic of...:**

She rolled her eyes and didn't bother reading the rest and slipped her phone in her pocket.

"He gave me feedback for my university letters which was nice," Mitsuko said, smiling as she watched an old woman walk by with a dog. "I could help you draft some letters as well."

Rio hummed. "I guess so but I don't really want to do that until high school." She leaned closer and kissed her cheek. "Which I got into my first choice by the way."

Mitsuko's eyes brightened. "That's great!" She curled her arm around hers. "Karma and I got into the Kunugigaoka high school so we're set." Her smile was crooked. "Gakushuu looked livid when he told him."

Rio grinned. "Good." She laughed. "Oh, man, I wish I was there to see them both go toe to toe! You have to keep me updated!"

"I will." She smiled slyly. "I'm aiming to beat them for top spot so it'll be an interesting three years."

"Please put them in their place and get the top spot!" Rio pleaded loudly, making her chuckle. "I just want to see their egos get smashed—it'd be amazing."

"I'll try my best." Mitsuko nuzzled her face into Rio's shoulder as they walked down the path.

Then her phone buzzed again, causing her to sigh.

She quickly checked and saw another comment from her dad.

**:Why are you still heading towards the east side of the park? It's getting dark, you should head towards the northern side because it's closer to the main road and is more populated. The statistics showed an increase in knife crime by 10% in the last three months.:**

Mitsuko sighed in exasperation, slipping her phone back in her pocket as she stopped walking. "Come on, let's head a different way."

Rio frowned. "Uh, why?" She gestured ahead. "You wanted to check out the new outside art display and going this way is quicker."

"I know, I know." She forced a smile and tried to tug her towards the north direction. "But my dad is freaking out because apparently there's a 10% increase in knife crime which is—"

Rio pulled her arm away. "Wait, what?"

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "He's just being paranoid, but if we don't change direction he's just going to keep nagging and—"

"How does your dad know which direction we're taking?" Rio asked stiffly, looking confused.

"Oh." Mitsuko blushed faintly from embarrassment. "Um, he has the stupid parent scheduling app, remember? He's using it to track us."

The other girl's eyes widened. "Your dad's tracking us?!"

"Well, yeah...." She grew uneasy, shifting on the spot. "He and mom have been a little overwhelming on the parenting thing since we ran into trouble on our last date, so this time he wanted to track us in case anything bad happens."

Rio's face scrunched up into a deeper frown. "But, he can't just—he shouldn't be chaperoning us on a date! We're sixteen! He can't just spy on us."

Mitsuko tensed. "Rio, my dad spies on the whole school on a regular basis," she replied hesitantly. "It's not like it's anything new. He's always been like this."

"Yeah, except we're not at school right now," she argued, looking more annoyed. "Can't you just turn off the tracker so we can have some privacy?"

"Well, yeah, but he'll freak out." Mitsuko frowned, taking out her phone where a GPS icon was flashing at the top. "It's not like he's _actually_ chaperoning us. He's just keeping tabs from a distance..."

"It's still weird..." Rio looked uncomfortable. "Look, I understand they're being protective, but stalking us isn't normal, Mitsuko! Where's the basic privacy and trust." She scowled. "My parents are protective but you don't see them stalking us or getting in our space."

Mitsuko felt a swell of frustration. "Well my parents aren't like yours, okay? And with everything happening with the divorce my dad is just being more...well, he's just trying to be a good dad."

"This isn't what good dad's do," Rio told her, her eyes glistening. "Your dad's a control freak and he's trying to control our relationship!"

Mitsuko's eyes widened when she saw how upset she was getting. "Rio—"

"I mean, I can't even hold your hand without him glaring at me!" She rose her voice, earning some looks from the park-goers. "And the only time we ever get real privacy alone together is at my house and even that's only for two hours a week if we're lucky."

"Then what do you expect me to do?!" Mitsuko snapped, feeling her eyes sting. " _They're my parents._ How they're acting now isn't even as bad as it used to be. At least now they actually _care_."

Whether it was at school or home there were always cameras, there were always tasks and schedules to complete. There wasn't a penny she could spend in her account that her parents wouldn't know about, and Rio thought the Principal tracking than on an app was the worst of it?

_Why couldn't she understand?!_

Mitsuko closed her eyes tight, trying to stop the tears from falling. "Do you think I like them always spying on me?!"

Rio's face fell and she started to look sick. "What? No, I just..." She cringed and reached out, cupping her face. "I'm sorry, don't cry, okay? Shit. Please don't cry."

"My parents aren't like yours," she mumbled, avoiding her gaze. "I told them I didn't like the tracking and I wanted more privacy but sometimes it's like yelling at a brick wall." She looked at her girlfriend earnestly.

Rio grimaced, avoiding her gaze. "...Look, I'm sorry." She pulled her into a hug. "Let's just call it a day, okay?"

Mitsuko felt a rise of panic. "No, we can still hang out," she insisted, moving back to stare at her. "We don't need to leave early."

Rio sighed quietly, shifting again. "Look I just...I'm tired anyway, so let's just call it a day okay?"

Her stomach twisted painfully, knowing it would be worse if she tried to force her to stay out when she didn't want to. "...Okay..."

* * *

"You're back early?" Mom walked into the hallway as she was taking off her shoes by the door. "It's not even seven yet."

"Yeah." Mitsuko sighed, neatening her shoes before walking over to the stairs. "We decided to call it an early night..."

"Oh, okay." Mom frowned, watching her curiously. "Well, there's leftovers in the fridge. Your brother's in his room and your father's free to discuss the universities."

"Right..." Mitsuko paused on the stairs. "I thought they were going to see that meteor shower."

Mom shrugged. "Your brother changed his mind." She walked closer to the stairs. "We could watch a movie if you want to."

"No...it's fine." Mitsuko continued up the stairs. "I've got some stuff to do anyway..."

"Oh, alright then," mom replied warily as she watched her leave.

Mitsuko sighed and went to her room, dumping her bag on the floor as she collapsed on her bed. She held the pillow close as she buried her face in it.

Her stomach wouldn't stop aching like she'd be sick when she couldn't stop wondering what was going to happen next.

_Normal couples had disagreements which were fine. It was fine....but what if this wasn't a normal disagreement?_

She buried her face deeper into the pillow when her eyes watered.

What if Rio didn't want to be her girlfriend anymore because of her parents?

_How am I supposed to fix that? I can't magically make my parents like her!_

What did Rio even expect her to do? She was getting frustrated because of how controlling the Principal was being, but it wasn't like it was anything new and it wasn't like she actually had to live with it every day.

_If she thought things were bad now she should try living with it for over ten years!_

Mitsuko felt something stir in her chest, growing more frustrated.

_If I can try to put up with it, why can't she?!_

There was a knock at her door a few minutes later. "Mitsuko?" It was her dad.

"What?" She mumbled, lifting her face up from the pillow.

The door opened like the mumbled reply was an invitation. "I thought we could go through the universities," dad said lightly, holding up a small folder. "I know you said you were getting feedback for those letters, so why don't we go through them together?"

Mitsuko curled around her pillow more, looking away. "...Can we do it tomorrow?" She shifted her face into the pillow again. "I'm tired."

There was a small pause. "...Did something happen?" He closed the door and walked over, sitting on the bed. "Your mother mentioned you came home early." He pressed a hand to her head. "Are you sick?"

"No." She sighed, wanting him to go away. "I'm just tired..."

"...Did something happen on your outing with Nakamura?" Her dad kept persisting. "I noticed you paused for a long time in the park and the sudden change of direction to the west was curious since—"

"We had a fight," she blurted out, cringing as she hugged her pillow tight. "She...we had an argument so we went home early..."

"Oh..." There was another pause as she felt her eyes sting when the tears came on more. "That's...unfortunate."

She held back a sob and buried her face further in the pillow. "I don't know what to do..."

His hand came and petted her head gently as she sniffled into her pillow. "It's alright."

"No it's not," Mitsuko mumbled, closing her eyes tight. "She's upset."

"Yes, well, there's plenty of other girls who would be happy to have you—"

Her eyes widened, sitting upright against the bedpost. "What?" Her brow furrowed warily. "We haven't broken up!"

A brief look of disappointment flashed across her dad's face. "Yes, well, I was just saying, after all if she's no longer making you happy..."

"I never said that." Mitsuko wiped her eyes. "I just said we had a fight." Her frustration returned. "And the only reason it happened was because _of you."_ She glared at him. "She was upset because you kept bothering us on our date."

Dad's shoulders stiffened. "I was just keeping an eye on things, which is perfectly reasonable considering what happened last time."

She hunched her shoulders up and hugged her pillow close like a comforter. "You were tracking us!"

"As any concerned parent would." His brow furrowed. "I fail to see an issue here."

She scowled. "The issue is that it's not normal," she argued, feeling like she was fighting a losing battle. "Normal parents don't spy on their kids—"

"It's perfectly normal for a parent to keep an eye on their child." Dad's tone grew defensive. "In fact, I think I'm quite lenient compared to other parents—I could have forced you to have a chaperone or supervise the dates myself, but I didn't."

She faltered briefly, second-guessing herself. "But..." She shook her head. "It's still the same thing." She curled her knees up. "You always have cameras everywhere, you're always watching."

"School and home security are not a conspiracy into invading your personal life, Mitsuko," he replied dismissively. "I have to keep my school and home secure, there's nothing wrong with that."

"It is when you're a control freak about it," Mitsuko snapped, rubbing her eyes when she felt more tears coming on. "How would _you_ like it if you were being watched all the time?"

"You're being hysterical." Dad looked annoyed. "I am your parent, there is nothing wrong with making sure you're safe and behaving appropriately."

"You're ruining my relationship," she snapped. "And you're doing it on purpose just because you don't like Rio!"

He bristled. "I am establishing proper boundaries for yourself and Nakamura and if she has nothing to hide there shouldn't be a problem," he reasoned firmly. "I will not have you two engaging in any inappropriate sexual conduct or adult behaviour while you're minors. I'm protecting you—"

"No, you're not!" She rubbed her eyes harder when her vision blurred up. "You're just as much of a control freak like you've always been." She glared at him fiercely. "And you still don't listen!"

"Okay, what is going on?!" She could hear mom yell and march up the stairs. "Why are you yelling?" Mom opened the door and narrowed her eyes while in the doorway. "What is wrong?"

"It was just a disagreement," dad said, frowning as he stood up. "Mitsuko is unhappy with her whereabouts being tracked."

Mitsuko grew on guard, glaring at him. "It's ruining things between me and Rio."

Mom frowned and then sighed. "I see..." She shook her head. "Gakuhou, leave, you're just making things worse."

"I'm being reasonable," dad insisted, narrowing his eyes. "You and I both agreed it was necessary to keep her safe."

"Yes, and clearly you're explaining it _so well,_ " mom replied dryly. "You're making her more upset."

"I was explaining why—"

Mitsuko scrunched her face uptight. "I don't want to talk to either of you!" she snapped petulantly. "And I'm not using that stupid app anymore!" She glared at them both. "In fact, I'm not going to any clubs this weekend. I don't care!"

"Mitsuko..." Mom frowned, walking over to the bed. "I know you're upset, but those clubs are important."

"I don't care," she repeated, turning away from them to hide further in her pillow. "I'm not going!"

If they weren't going to listen to her then she didn't have to listen to them!

"This is ridiculous," dad said impatiently. "If you're going to be immature about this then you're not allowed to see Nakamura at all."

Mitsuko buried her face in her pillow when she felt a sob build in her throat. "Go away!"

Dad gave a frustrated sigh. "For goodness sake..."

"Alright, we'll go," mom said, getting off the bed. "But we'll need to talk more when you've calm down, alright?"

Mitsuko mumbled something into her pillow as the material was readily growing damp from the tears. "Just go away..."

Her mom gave a sigh which sounded disappointed, but the two of them did leave, shutting the door behind them. She could still hear their mumbled bickering from the down the hallway, making her shy further into her bed to hide.

* * *

She didn't leave her room all of Saturday except for food and the bathroom, even when her mom came to ask her if she was going out to do her clubs or volunteer work.

Mitsuko curled up miserably on her bed, staring at her clock as the minutes went by as it hit 14:00.

There had been five activities planned for the morning which were now gone.

09:00 had been a morning Karate lesson where she was meant to tutor the younger students.

10:00 had meant to be volunteering at the large cram school in the city.

Then 13:00 was when her music practice with the youth orchestra had meant to take place which meant Kamie would have had to fill in her spot last minute...

Her eyes welled up with tears, feeling more miserable when she thought of how much time was wasted and all the activities she'd missed.

The little kids at Karate practice would be disappointed and the cram school would be annoyed at having to fill her slot...

She cried into her pillow and sniffled, wanting to get back the time that was lost like her mind was filling with static noise. Spending all day doing nothing had just seemed to make her more upset which made no sense since it should be the opposite.

Then there was a knock at her door. "Mitsuko?" It was Gakushuu, which was odd because she could have sworn he had basketball practice around this time.

She quickly wiped her eyes and sat up. "Yeah?"

"...Do you want to go to the park?" her brother asked hesitantly.

_The park?_

"What?" She got out of bed and wiped her eyes more, feeling she must have misheard. "What did you say?"

When she opened the door her brother was awkwardly standing in the doorway with his backpack over one of his shoulders. "...Do you want to go to the park?"

Stared at him in confusion. "Don't you basketball?"

He shrugged. "I called in sick..."

She nearly choked. "What?!"

Her brother shrugged again, half-turning away. "Well, are you coming or not?"

Mitsuko frowned, hesitating. "Um, okay..."

* * *

So they went to the park.

Except to her amazement, her brother had actually meant a park with swings and a slide, which was even more bizarre when he casually sat on one of the swings.

Mitsuko stood there and stared at him. "...Do you want me to push you or something?"

"No." Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Well, what else was I meant to think?" She frowned and walked over to sit on the swing next to him. "Why are we even here anyway?"

"I just thought it would be good to get out of the house and go somewhere nice," he replied, as his foot tapped against the tarmac, pushing himself lightly. "You seemed upset..."

She grimaced, staring at the ground. "Yeah, well, dad was being a prick."

"When isn't he?" Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. "So apparently you had a fight with Nakamura because dad was being his usual stalking self?"

"Yes." She scowled, swaying on the swing slightly, trying to remember the last time she'd actually been on a swing. "Rio's upset because she doesn't like how dad's trying to control our relationship."

Her brother scoffed. "If she thinks he's bad now she has no idea..."

"Exactly!" Mitsuko frowned. "That's what I tried to say but...I don't know; I guess I can understand where she's coming from."

"Yes, but it wouldn't kill her to understand from where you're coming from as well," he sounded annoyed. "Just because her parents are perfect, doesn't mean she can expect ours to instantly accommodate and change—she has no idea what it's like living with them."

She sighed. "Yeah, but that's not her fault...sometimes it's hard for people to understand if they don't have experience."

"...Your friend Sugaya seems to understand fine," Gakushuu argued.

"Yeah, but I'm not dating Sugaya," she replied, sighing. "And at least dad is actually nice to him...he has to force himself to even be polite to Rio..." Her eyes narrowed at him. "And you don't help when you're mean to her."

Her brother scowled. "Well, it's not my fault she's annoying." His scowl grew when she glared at him. "What do you expect? You're my sister, of course, I'm going to be annoyed with you dating people."

"That doesn't mean you have to be horrible with her."

"I'm not horrible to her," he argued, sticking his nose up. "If anything, I've been nice to her!"

"Except for the fact you're always telling her to stop 'molesting' me?" Mitsuko looked annoyed. "You do know there is a politer way of saying it right?"

He grimaced. "I'm your brother, I'm allowed to be outraged when someone is kissing you or-"

"She's my girlfriend, Gakushuu," she reminded him sternly. "If you keep trying to control our relationship you're no better than dad..."

Her brother cringed at that, faltering. "I wasn't...I just don't like the idea of it, alright?" He frowned. "You're my little sister. You doing things like that with people is disgusting!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I hate your obsessive fanclub that keep asking me for shirtless photos of you."

His eyes widened. "They asked for what?"

"Of course it's gross, that's fine," she continued. "I get that, but at the same time it's _my_ life and _my_ body, you can't stop me from wanting to have that kind of relationship with my girlfriend."

Her brother's brow furrowed, shifting on the swing uncomfortably. "I suppose..."

"I'm going to have sex one day," she told him firmly, making him grimace. "And you trying to interrupt or roadblock that isn't going to stop it. It's a part of growing up."

"I know that." His shoulders hunched up as he glared at the ground. "Fine. I'll try to interfere as much but that doesn't mean you two are just allowed to eat each other's face out while I'm right there."

She sighed. "I promise we'll keep it private that kind of stuff private." She held his hand and smiled. "And would it kill you to be a little nicer?"

He scowled. "...Fine."

Her smile grew warmer. "Thank you."

Her brother hummed, kicking his heel at the ground. "So are you really going to stop going to all the clubs?"

Mitsuko sighed. "Probably not—I still have responsibilities and doing nothing all day felt horrible...I don't know how mom used to do it!" She frowned. "Then again she probably did have crippling depression..."

"So what are you going to do about Nakamura?" Gakushuu asked.

She shrugged, looking down as she rested her hands on her lap. "I don't know. You know how stubborn dad can be and he's such an asshole about these things."

Her brother nodded. "Yes, he is." He shrugged, swinging slightly back and forth. "But you have to make him listen somehow."

* * *

Mitsuko sighed, staring at the door to dad's office for a while, trying to mentally prepare herself for what she would say.

She chewed on the inside of her mouth briefly before knocking. "Dad?"

"Yes?" His voice came from the other side of the door. "Is there something you wanted?"

She sighed and walked into the office, unsurprised to find him sitting at his desk working. "I wanted to talk..."

Dad hummed, looking up from his work. "Have you calmed down now?"

Her eyes narrowed, shutting the door behind her. "Don't be an asshole." She walked over to his desk. "I'm still right about you being too controlling." She grimaced, looking away. "Look, I was being rash when I said I didn't go to my clubs or volunteer work, I've realised that wasn't the right way to go about it and I get why it's important to be organised and have a schedule to structure the day..."

"Alright..." Dad stood up, paying attention. "I'm glad you understand that."

"But, I still think Rio's right about you interfering too much," Mitsuko said, staring at him with resolve. "I'm sixteen and I'm entitled to some trust and privacy."

"Which you are given," he insisted, standing in front of her. "Your mother and I trust you enough to let you have a girlfriend and we allow you an appropriate amount of time alone."

"Yeah, while you're tracking me on my phone," she reminded him. "That's not real trust. You said you'd let us make our own choices, but you're not..."

"Yes I am," he said sternly. "I'm letting you make many choices, about your future career, what clubs you want to join, and the fact I'm letting you date is a large choice in itself," he argued. "Some girls your age aren't even allowed to date."

"That doesn't make it right!"

"My point is, that I am quite lenient," he argued. "Or would you rather I be as Akabane's parents and not care at all."

She frowned at that. "Of course not! But there needs to be a balance!" Her frown deepened. "I do like that you care, and it makes me happy that you want to protect me, but you have to stop being so controlling, you have to stop treating Rio badly!"

"I don't see how I'm treating her is wrong." His brow furrowed. "I allow her into the home, I speak politely too her. I let her take you out on dates—how have I treated her wrongly?"

"You make her feel uncomfortable," Mitsuko argued. "And you pressure her--"

"I pressure her to treat you to _a high standard_ , as any father would," he reasoned, frowning more. "If she's unable to meet those expectations then she clearly isn't trying hard enough."

She groaned in frustration. "Dad, not everyone needs to meet your expectations! Rio is her own person and you have no right to try to control her like that." She tried to keep her temper in check and remain calm. "I know you love me and just want her to treat me right, I understand, but you're interfering too much and it's making things worse."

Dad's lips crept into a scowl. "I..." He took a deep breath. "There's so much you don't understand." His hands rested on her shoulders, pulling her into an embrace, pressing her head against his chest. "This divorce will...it will be difficult for us to spend so much time together." His voice was low, holding too tight that is started to hurt. "A parent has to keep their child close and within watch."

She clenched her jaw. Her frustration mounted so much she wanted to yell at him, wondering how he could change so much but still stay the same. _He still wasn't listening!_

"No!" She pushed him away hard, causing him to frown. " _This_ isn't parenting." Her hands balled into fists. "You still never listen!"

Before he could say anything else, she turned around and left the office, making sure to slam the door on her way out so the whole house could hear. 


	71. An Uncomfortable Subject

"So..." Dr Yokoyama looked at them all when they sat down for their family session on Sunday morning. "How has everyone's week been?"

Mitsuko gritted her teeth and stayed stubbornly silent, sitting next to her brother on the sofa in the middle while their parents were at opposite ends in separate armchairs.

Mom sighed, fidgeting slightly. "...Well, Mitsuko and her father had an argument yesterday—"

"Mom!" Mitsuko looked annoyed.

Her mom frowned. "This is what we're paying him for, sweetie." Gesturing at the therapist. "We have to get our money's worth!"

The therapist raised an eyebrow. "You are paying me quite a lot."

Mitsuko scowled, crossing her arms as she slouched. "What's the point of talking about it when dad won't listen."

"Just because you dislike my response doesn't mean I'm not listening," dad replied impatiently. "And stop slouching, you're behaving like a child."

"I am a child!" she snapped back.

"You are being a spoilt brat just because you can't get your way," dad said sternly.

Mom sighed loudly while Gakushuu rolled his eyes.

Dr Yokoyama hummed, staring at them curiously as he wrote something down. "And what exactly is the main argument about?"

"Dad's stalking me on a parenting app and it's causing problems for me and my girlfriend," Mitsuko said, scowling. "And every time I try to talk to dad about it he won't listen."

"I am listening," her dad insisted, clapping his hands on his lap. "That doesn't mean I have to agree with it."

"I see..." Dr Yokoyama raised an eyebrow. "So you both feel either party is listening and understanding each other?" He wrote something down. "Mitsuko, why don't you start by explaining why you feel your father is in the wrong?"

She sat up straighter and scowled when her dad glared at her. "Dad and mom don't like Rio—"

"That's not true," Mom interjected quickly.

"You threatened to send her to a conversion therapist," Gakushuu reminded his mother dryly.

"I-I was worried!"

"—Mom's still homophobic and dad thinks Rio isn't good enough for me," Mitsuko told them bluntly.

"I'm not homophobic!" Mom sounded upset, wringing her hands. "There are just some things I feel should be handled a certain way! They're still children!"

"Let's tackle one thing at a time." Their therapist sighed and rubbing his eyes, looking tired. "Mitsuko, you were saying."

Mitsuko grimaced. "Dad doesn't like Rio, and he never has; he keeps putting pressure on her and it's making her upset and one edge."

"I am merely setting certain standards," dad interrupted, irritated. "If Nakamura feels pressure then perhaps we should questioning just how devoted she really is."

Mitsuko winced. "You haven't even tried to get to know her and you've known her for years," she argued. "Just because you tolerate her and do the bare minimum isn't the same as treating her with respect or trying to get to know her—and you're always so passive-aggressive about it."

"Interesting." Dr Yokoyama spoke before dad could open his mouth. "And how does that make you feel?"

Mitsuko tensed, avoiding her dad's look. "... _Uncomfortable._ " She curled her hands into fists. "It's always stressful when they're around each other." She cringed. "And it feels bad because it's like I have to choose a side and then I feel guilty afterwards no matter what side I choose."

Dr Yokoyama nodded, turning to her dad. "Chairman, your thoughts?"

Dad shifted in the chair, avoiding looking at her. "...I can understand why she's upset," he replied measuredly. "But in my opinion, Nakamura is the one causing an issue and interfering."

Mitsuko felt a rise of frustration. "Dad!"

Their therapist raised a hand. "Let's listen and understand your father's thoughts here, Mitsuko."

She scowled and kept silent, narrowing her eyes at her dad.

Dad grimaced but looked unapologetic. "While I'll admit I am still learning to parent in a more... _positive_ way. I fully believe Nakamura's interference here is selfish and immature." He frowned. "Children need boundaries, especially if they are veering on sexual intercourse."

Gakushuu buried his face in his palm. "Oh, God..."

"There has to be boundaries," Dad insisted. "And after the incident last time, it is not unreasonable to track my daughter's whereabouts in the most efficient way possible."

"And what was this incident you are referring to?" The other man asked.

"The last time Nakamura and Mitsuko went on a date in the evening they were assaulted by a homophobe—"

"The guy didn't _physically_ assault us!"

"—Which lead to Mitsuko having pepper spray the delinquent to protect herself," dad continued. "Which resulted in them running away and then ending up in an adult bar full of drugs and who knows what else."

Mitsuko scowled, hunching her shoulders up. "...We left quickly..."

"So as you can see, I have more than a good reason to be concerned," dad said firmly.

Dr Yokoyama nodded. "That does seem like a fair reason, to be honest."

"Except he wasn't just tracking us," Mitsuko argued. "He was messaging me throughout the date!"

"I was warning you on the latest crime statistics."

"You were being paranoid."

"Alright." Their therapist interjected lightly. "Now, Chairman, how do you feel about your daughter now wanting you to interfere as much?"

"I think—"

"No, I meant how do you feel emotionally?"

There was a pause as dad just stared at the therapist blankly.

"...I don't follow what you mean."

Mom sighed exasperation. "For goodness sake, Gakuhou, just answer the question."

Dr Yokoyama frowned. "I'm asking how you feel. What are your emotions currently regarding the disagreement you and Mitsuko are having?"

There was another long silence as they all stared at him expectantly.

Dad's lips were set in a thin line.

"I'm perfectly fine. Emotionally."

Dr Yokoyama stared at him for a long moment, before leaning back in his chair. "....Really?"

"Yes." Dad's voice was clipped. "I'm neither angry nor happy about the situation."

Mitsuko watched warily as her dad and Dr Yokoyama engaged in a long staring battle for nearly a full two minutes.

"Uh, huh..." Their therapist tapped his pen against his chin and then scribbled something in his notebook. "Interesting..."

"He's always been like this," mom said bitterly, crossing his arms. "He never talks about how he feels."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "Well, we both can't be emotional wrecks."

"Dad!" Both Gakushuu and Mitsuko chided.

Mom bristled. "At least I'm not a detached robot!" She looked angry. "You know he barely even tells the children he loves them."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "That is not relevant."

"It is perfectly relevant, this is why we're here," mom snapped, looking upset. "We're meant to be here to fix things!"

"We're here because you can't control yourself," Dad snapped back.

" _Enough,_ please!" Dr Yokoyama started to look annoyed. "Any disagreements in this room have to delivered with _respect,_ so please try to be courteous with one another as to set an example for Gakushuu and Mitsuko."

Both their parents instantly quietened like scolded children.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "It's fine we're used to it."

Mitsuko grimaced. "They'll fight over anything these days..."

Mom winced, ducking her head, looking ashamed while dad shifted uncomfortably.

There was a long stretch of silence until Dr Yokoyama sighed.

"Well, from what I've seen, each one of you seems to have a large issue communicating with each other," Dr Yokoyama told them curtly. "So let's see what we can do to mend this." He turned back to her dad. "Chairman, you said that Mitsuko and her girlfriend need to have boundaries, so have you sat down and discuss exactly what these boundaries should be?"

Dad stared at him blankly. "...Excuse me?"

"I am asking if you have had a _conversation_ about it with them." The therapist sighed. "You're worried about them engaging in sexual behaviour too early, but have you talked and explained why it's important for them to be careful?"

"...These are things they are already well aware of, or at least should be," her dad replied stiffly.

Dr Yokoyama blinked slowly. "I'm sorry, I don't quite follow?"

"I have already been firm in what I do not approve of too much outward affection," dad said firmly.

"No, you haven't," Mitsuko replied, frowning. "You just glare and make us feel bad if we kiss or hold hands."

Dad frowned at her. "Which should make it clear that I don't approve of you both rushing into a sexual relationship."

"No it's not," she complained. "You just make it feel like it's _all_ a bad thing—that's our relationships _wrong_ , which is just what that homophobic guy made us feel like!"

Dad looked offended. "That is not my intentions at all, of course, there's nothing wrong with you being with a girl. I have completely no issue with that."

Mitsuko's eyes narrowed. "Except for when I hold her hand and kiss her."

"That's because it's a spiral down a road to inappropriate behaviour," dad stressed. "Nakamura is too... _loose_. She keeps pushing you towards behaviour which you shouldn't be taking part in until you're an adult."

"Why do you keep insisting Rio's the one initiating everything?" Mitsuko argued. "I kiss and hold her hand just as much and I'm the one who..." She blushed and quickly trailed off. "Uh..."

Dad's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're the one who what?"

She looked down, embarrassed, feeling her stomach twist as they all stared at her. " _I'm_ the one who...who wants to take it to the next level!" she blurted out. "But Rio keeps saying we should wait!"

"You're too young to be doing that!" Mom looked terrified. "You shouldn't even be thinking of that yet. You're still a child!"

Mitsuko felt more embarrassed and uneasy. "The law says I'm old enough to do it...and I want to—"

" _Absolutely not,_ " dad said sharply, looking like he'd be sick. "You are too young, and that goes for Gakushuu as well. Whether he's with a girl or boy--"

"I'm not even in a relationship!" Gakushuu objected and then turned bright red. "And what do you mean girl or boy?!!"

" _Regardless_ neither of you should be engaging in that activity until you're eighteen," dad insisted, the signs of panic showing. "I won't allow it."

Her stomach churned when she felt a rise of shame come up and grow. "But dad--"

"You are _children_ ," dad said sternly, appearing disgusted by the thought of it. "Engaging in that type of behaviour before you turn eighteen is disgusting."

Both Mitsuko and and her brother cringed, looking uncomfortable. 

"Um, I don't think this is helping," Dr Yokoyama said tiredly. "Chairman, Mrs Asano, out of interest, have either of you sat down and talked to your children about puberty or relationships?"

There was a long stretch of silence again.

"Um, yes, of course!" Mom said nervously. "The basics at least..."

Both Gakushuu and Mitsuko looked at their mom in disbelief.

"Mom, when I first got my period you literally threw a box of tampons on my lap and just told me I was a woman now, and then left my room," Mitsuko said dryly. "I had to search the internet to find out why I was even bleeding."

Mom blushed. "Well...I just...I didn't want to embarrass you."

"When I asked you to buy me a razor to shave, you burst out crying," Gakushuu commented.

"It was a lot to take in!" Mom argued, frowning. "You're _my babies_ , I don't like the idea of you growing up!"

Their therapist sighed. "I understand it's an uncomfortable subject, but Gakushuu and Mitsuko need to understand _why_ they have to be careful."

"We're perfectly aware of the biology of it," Gakushuu said impatiently. "We're not idiots."

"There's more to relationships than just the mechanics of sex," Dr Yokoyama tried to explain. "There are the emotions, the comprehension of consent and healthy behaviour." He looked at Mitsuko. "When you have a problem do you talk to your girlfriend about it?"

"Uh...sometimes," she replied, shrugging. "What kind of problems do you mean?"

"Well, let's say Nakamura did something hurtful to you that made you upset such as..." He drummed his fingers against his notebook. "Let's say you were going on a date but she never showed up. What would you do?"

Mitsuko picked at her nails. "Um..." She looked down. "Well, I'm sure she'd have a good reason for showing up so I'd let it slide." Then she quickly added. "I'd ask her why but there's no use getting angry about it..."

"And if it kept happening?"

"Well, I don't know." Mitsuko shrugged uncomfortably. "I'd keep asking—she hasn't done any of this stuff so why are you asking?"

"I'm creating a hypothetical situation because I want to understand how you view your relationship," he replied evenly. "So we all can understand how balanced the relationship is."

"Oh...okay..." Mitsuko replied hesitantly.

"For instance," he continued. "Mitsuko, what are your first thoughts when Nakamura is upset?"

Mitsuko looked around warily. "...That I've done something wrong and need to fix it?"

"Wait, what?!" Gakushuu looked horrified.

She tensed, looking around when everyone looked similarly confused. "Well, she's my girlfriend...I know she isn't always right but when she's upset I feel upset like it's my fault and I have to fix it." She shrugged. "So sometimes I get angry when I don't know how to fix it...I used to take out a lot of my anger out her when we were friends before I realised that was wrong so I'm trying not to do that and make her happy..." She sighed. "So I don't like bothering her with stuff that might make her upset...I don't want her to break up with me because I'm too much work."

Everyone was silent.

Dr Yokoyama was silent, his expression passive if not faintly horrified. "....How about we take a ten minute break?"

***

As soon as they all stepped out of the office Mitsuko was dragged off by her mother to a far corner of the building near a large window.

"Mom!" Mitsuko frowned at being man-handled.

Mom turned to her sternly. "Did Nakamura tell you it's your fault for making her upset?"

"What? No, of course not." Mitsuko's frown deepened. "I just figured it out for myself." She shifted on the spot. "Dad is always pressuring Rio to keep me happy and she always tries because she's a good girlfriend." She sighed quietly. "I don't like seeing her under pressure like that so I try not to bother her too much with things..."

"Okay..." Mom nodded, placing her hands on her shoulders.

"I don't like seeing Rio upset, so I'm trying to be more sensitive to her feelings and keep her happy..." She told her, feeling sick. "I don't want her to leave."

Mom looked horrified. "No, sweetie don't say..." She covered her mouth like she'd cry. "Oh, God. This is all my fault!"

Mitsuko winced, wondering what she had said to make her upset. "Hey, no don't cry, mom. Why are you upset?"

"You're going to end up like me and your father." She looked close to sobbing.

"What?!" Mitsuko's eyes widened. "Mom, Rio is nothing like dad," she said fiercely, mortified by even the concept. "Rio would _never_ hurt me, and I would never let her treat me like...our relationship isn't like that!"

Rio was a good person, and she wasn't obsessive or controlling like dad. There was no way in a million years she would mistreat her, if anything Mitsuko felt lucky that she was willing to put up with so much! Mitsuko felt guilty, wondering if she'd made things even worse after what she had said.

_What if her parents stopped her from seeing Rio altogether?!_

"I know Rio isn't like that," mom said softly, staring at her sadly. "I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about _you_."

Mitsuko frowned. "Why?"

Mom made a choked sobbing sound and pulled her into a hug. "The fact you don't even know is the problem!"

* * *

Dr Yokoyama took a deep breath once they were all sat down again.

"Mitsuko, I'll explain my concerns," he said promptly while she looked around hesitantly. "The main issue isn't Nakamura, in fact I think she's completely oblivious to the issue." He sighed, massaging his temples. "From what I've analysed, you clearly have self-esteem issues, insecurity. You rely on pleasing people."

Her cheeks heated up, feeling like she was under a bright light.

Both her parents weren't looking at her.

"...I mean, I guess so," she mumbled, feeling her brother hold her hand reassuringly.

Their therapist turned the pages of his notes. "Now the problem is, that this means you aren't being completely honest in your relationship with Nakamura because you're worried of upsetting her and that she'll leave you."

"But, I mean...that'll pass though," she reasoned, frowning. "We've only been dating for four months, so I'm sure I won't worry about that if I have more time."

"Perhaps, yes." He didn't sound like he believed that. "Now, I know you've been making progress with this and your self-esteem has improved tremendously from what you've told me in our past sessions, _but_ this is something you need to be aware of so there isn't an imbalance in the relationship." He smiled a little warmly. "You and Nakamura obviously care about each other a lot."

"We do..." Mitsuko muttered, rubbing her arm.

"Which is why it's important you're honest with her and aren't afraid to voice your feelings," he told her firmly.

She chewed the inside of her mouth. "Okay...I can work on that."

Dr Yokoyama nodded, and then turned to her dad. "And I would recommend you talk with Nakamura, Chairman. From what I gather your main problem is the two of you are unwilling to sit down and try to understand eachother."

Dad grimaced, not looking at any of them. "I suppose you're correct..."

The other man nodded, turning to GakushuuandMitsuko. "Our session is nearly over, but if there is anything else you two would like to bring up with your parents?"

Mitsuko held back a sigh when her brother remained silent. "...Well, actually, when we went to the movies-"

Gakushuu crushed her hand warningly. "No! Nothing I can think of."

"Ow!" She hissed and wrenched her hand free. "Jerk!" She smacked him across the head.

"Hey!" He yelled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Okay then." Dr Yokoyama picked up his diary. "Well, the month is nearly over so let's say to have your individual sessions on the 28TH February this Thursday and then the family session on the 3rd March?"

* * *

"Ritsu...can I ask you something?" Mitsuko said while they were playing an online Tetris game on her laptop that same evening.

"Yeah, sure!" Ritsu dodged and incoming squared and cleared a layer. "Just try not to lose in the process!"

Mitsuko frowned, clicking the block to make it rotate. "You already have an unfair advantage of actually being in the game."

Ritsu laughed and cleared another layer, hopping onto the virtual squared like it was a wall. "You wanted to play a game!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask....do you ever have a low self-esteem?"

"Huh?" Ritsu looked confused, missing a block so it landed incorrectly. "What do you mean?" She frowned, scratching her head. "I am still learning emotions so you'll need to be more specific?"

Mitsuko shifted on her bed, adjusting the laptop on her lap. "I mean like...do you feel bad when you can't please someone...like really bad?"

The AI hummed, pushing a block out of the way before it hit her head. "I guess...I feel happy when I'm able to help the class out and be useful."

She frowned, looking a little concerned. "And when you can't be useful?"

Ritsu scratched her head. "I guess I feel upset, but that's also because I feel left out if I'm not being useful..."

Mitsuko felt a spark of worry. "We still care about you even if you're not helping us," she quickly reassured. "You're our friend!"

Ritsu blushed, looking down shyly. "I appreciate you saying that." She smiled feebly. "But it's not like I can physically interact with you guys, so it's a bit restrictive."

She held her laptop closer. "Well, you're still my friend..."

"I know that, silly." The Ai looked happy. "That's why you're my best friend!" A sparkle of best friend text appeared on the screen. "You're the one who spend the most time with me which is great! So I don't feel sad if the others sometimes forget."

Mitsuko felt a fierce protectiveness. "We never forget about you!"

Ritsu shrugged, looking unbothered. "It's fine—anyway, why are you asking, did something happen?"

She grimaced, looking down. "My therapist says I have a low self-esteem and that it's having an unhealthy impact on my relationship with Rio..."

"Oh..." Ritsu frowned, looking thoughtful as she shoved another Tetris piece to the side to clear a row. "Well, from what I've observed you can be insecure, but it's not as severe as it used to be." She smiled at her brightly. "I wouldn't worry too much; you have a way of learning quickly so I'm sure it's something you can grow past."

Mitsuko felt a burst of warmth at that. "Thanks..." She smiled faintly. "It's still stressful though because I haven't been talked to Rio since our fight..." She sighed. "I don't know what to do or say since my dad is being...well, my dad."

"I'm sure it'll be alright..." Ritsu smiled reassuringly. "I'm not an expert in romance, but you and Nakamura have been through a lot and worked stuff out, even when things seemed hopeless."

"True..." She sighed quietly. "We should be okay...I just have to talk to her." She frowned again. "I'll need to talk to my dad again as well, but he's been distant since our fight..."

Ritsu gave her a thumbs up. "Just keep at it!" She picked up a square and cleared another row. "And if he still doesn't listen, just let me know and I'll sabotage his school again!"

She grinned. "He'll know it's you."

The Ai winked. "Good. That makes it more fun."

Mitsuko shook her head, clearing another row. "True. It is more funny." Her smile faded. "I guess I can understand where my dad is coming from. I know he just wants to protect us, but it's just too much, he makes me feel like I'm a little kid sometimes and it's embarrassing."

"And condescending." Ritsu nodded. "But at least he's trying-he's not like my masters..." Her face scrunched up. "They would say such mean things to me! When I was still developing they used to call me stupid and slow because I couldn't control my weapons properly and then they would kick me!"

She felt a swell of anger. "Fucking assholes."

"Exactly!" Ritsu scowled, angrily kicking a block into place. "I didn't have the emotions to cry but it made me feel bad, and they used to get drunk and order me to sing rude songs and would laugh and make fun of me when I sang the bad words..."

Mitsuko wanted to hug her. "I'm sorry they made you go through that." Her eyes narrowed. "You're never going back to them again."

Ritsu nodded. "I won't." She smiled brightly. "I've got my escape planned for when March is over, so don't worry, they won't catch me!" An evil glint shone in her eye. "Not after I'm done with them..."

Mitsuko felt reassured by that and relaxed. "Good." She gripped the laptop tight. "I guess we both have our work cut out for us..."

"Yeah, but at least your dad loves you." Ritsu shrugged. "So, you'll be fine." Then she stuck another square down, clearing the final row. "YAY! I WIN!"

Celebration flashed on the screen, causing Mitsuko to wince at the brightness. "Ugh!"

"That means I've won five times in a row!" Ritsu hopped up and down. "Ah, ha! Let's play again!"

* * *

"Man, hearing about your parents really makes me grateful for mine," Sugaya said casually as they walked up the hill to the Old Campus that Monday morning.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes as she walked alongside him. "Wow, thanks. That makes me feel great."

He shrugged. "Well, it is the truth. If you want to get away from them, you can just hangout at mine for a sleepover."

"I am debating it," she replied. "But they are still freaking out about me admitting I want sex, so hanging out with a boy overnight might just tip the barrel."

He raised an eyebrow. "No offence, but you have a better chance at sleeping with my sister than me."

"I know, but try telling _them_ that."

"Well, the offer is still there." He shrugged again as they stepped into the Old Campus building. "And do you think Koro-sensei was serious when he said he'd take us on an around the world trip?"

"Honestly, I'm scared he is," she replied dryly, as they walked into class where a few of the others were already seated.

"Oh, hey, Mitsuko!" Sugino called from where he was sitting on Nagisa's desk.

"Hey, guys!" She looked around nervously for Rio but couldn't see her. "Did you have a good weekend?"

"Yeah, it was good, me and my dad took a day trip to this wildlife centre," Sugino replied.

"Sounds fun." Mitsuko sat down at her desk as more of her classmates arrived.

Toka came in and frowned when she saw her. "Oh, hey, Mitsuko." She stopped in front of her desk. "I thought you'd be with Nakamura."

Mitsuko frowned, feeling her stomach churn. "Why?"

_Did everyone know about the fight?_

"Because she got called to the Main Campus to meet the Principal," Toka's frown deepened. "Your dad's assistant came and got her when we were about to head up the mountain."

"What?" Mitsuko felt her insides freeze, standing up. "Why?!"

Toka looked concerned as the rest of the class quietened. "I don't know! The assistant just asked her to come with him to the Principal's office because it was important." She held her bag strap tightly. "I was hoping you knew because he's your dad."

"What is it?" Nagisa looked over in alarm. "What would the Principal want with her?"

Mitsuko felt sick, a thousand horrible scenarios swimming through her head. "Oh, no..."


	72. I hate him

Rio and her dad’s hatred for one another had been ongoing since Mitsuko could remember, except she hadn’t actually realised it was a thing until she was nine and Rio and her father had an actual conversation.

It had been at a sleepover at Mitsuko’s house, the first and last one for a long time they ever had one there.

At the time it had been exciting like Rio was a ray of sunshine coming into their home.

Mitsuko held her hand the whole time she gave her a tour of the house.

“…And that room there is full of more book and instruments,” Mitsuko told her brightly.

Rio looked around with wide and curious eyes as they passed the room. “Do you even use half these rooms?!”  
Mitsuko laughed. “No, not really.” She smiled at her as they wandered downstairs. “That’s everywhere then- what do you think?”

“Yeah, it’s nice.” Rio shrugged as they walked down the stairs. “So where’s your mom, is she still visiting family?”

Mitsuko’s smile tightened. “Yeah, but she’ll be back soon!”

It had been nearly six months since she’d left and dad had promised that she’d be back in a few weeks…though, he’d said the same thing five months ago, but _this_ time she was certain he wasn’t lying.

“So who’s making dinner, the housekeeper?” Rio asked as they headed to the dining room.

“Yeah, her food is nice,” Mitsuko replied dismissively. “Gakushuu will be down soon and then dad—they’re never late so we just need to wait ten more minutes.”

The dining table was already set and it wouldn’t be long until the housekeeper, Kimiko, started putting out the food.

“Oh, okay.” Rio frowned. “I didn’t think your dad would be coming.”

“Well, he has to eat too,” Mitsuko joked, sitting at the large dining table near the end.

Rio rolled her eyes and sat next to her. “I know that! But you always say he’s busy.”

“Well, yeah,” she replied, shuffling her seat closer to the table. “He spends breakfast with us every morning, and sometimes dinner.” She smoothed down her skirt. “Sometimes he’s busy so we don’t see him at dinner, but he normally tries to eat with us.”

“Oh, right…” Rio’s frown stayed.

Mitsuko’s smile wavered when she saw the frown and quickly held her hand. “Don’t worry, afterwards we can hang out in my room.”

The brown-haired girl smiled. “Okay. I borrowed my mom’s make-up so we can play with that.”

Mitsuko’s smile widened. “I’ve never tried that before, we can give each other makeovers and do each other's hair just like in the stories!”

Rio’s smile grew. “Yeah, it’ll be like in the movies!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Gakushuu sounded annoyed when he entered the dining room. “Nakamura, you’re in my seat.”

Rio scowled at him. “Use another one then.”

Mitsuko laughed when her brother’s face scrunched up. “She’s a guest, Gaku-nii!”

Her brother huffed, walking past them to sit opposite. “It’s still _my_ seat.”

“Too bad.” Rio rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. “Nnh! Well, I got here first!”

Gakushuu glared at her when she made faces at him. “Stop it!”

Mitsuko chuckled when Rio kept making obnoxious ugly faces at her brother.

“Stop it!” Her brother whined. “You’re being stupid!”

“Well, your face is stupid,” Rio snapped back.

Mitsuko laughed again, kicked her feet in the air until the wooden clock on the wall chimed when it hit 5pm.

She quickly reigned in her laughter when she heard footsteps approaching, nudging Rio slightly when she kept making faces.

Gakushuu gave Rio another glare before his expression grew passive when their dad walked in.

“Children,” dad greeted them lightly, and then raised an eyebrow at Rio. “And Nakamura.” He stopped in front of his chair at the head of the table in-between them. “You’re here too.”

Mitsuko frowned, trying not to fidget in her seat. “You said she could stay for a sleepover if I won the gymnastic competition and got full marks in those tests.”

“Yes, I’m aware.” Dad looked dismissive, taking off his suit jacket to place on the back of the chair. “I hadn’t forgotten.”

_Then why greet her like that?!_

Mitsuko’s frown deepened as she looked down.

Rio looked between them hesitantly. “Uh, thank you for letting me stay, Mr Asano.”

Dad sat down as the old housekeeper with greying hair came in with two plates. “You’re very welcome, Nakamura,” he said politely, smiling pleasantly at her. “What time will your parents be coming to get you tomorrow?”

Mitsuko nearly choked while Rio’s eyes widened. “Oh…um, my mom can come after breakfast…”

“Wonderful,” he replied, unfolding his napkin as his and Gakushuu’s plate were put down first before Kimiko disappeared out of the room again. “Gakushuu and Mitsuko have a busy schedule on Saturday so they can’t afford any delays.”

Mitsuko gave an apprehensive laugh, smiling at Rio. “Which means we’ll have lots of fun tonight,” she said quickly. “We can use my pillows to build a fort.”

Rio grinned. “Me and my brother did that at my grandparents for Christmas!”

She felt a swell of relief when she saw her smile and nodded. “I have fairy lights we can use as well.”

Kimiko placed hers and Rio’s plate of food down in front of them.

“Thank you, Kimiko,” dad thanked the woman. “Children?”

“Thank you, Kimiko!” Mitsuko and Gakushuu repeated politely.

“Yes, thank you!” Rio said quickly.

The housekeeper smiled faintly and nodded, bowing before she left.

Mitsuko stared at the steaming bowl of Nikujaga stew. It smelt good but her mom’s normally smelt better…

Dad stirred his stew. “Time to eat.”

Mitsuko eagerly started to eat, savouring the taste and the frowning when it wasn’t quite right like her mom’s. Not that the housekeeper was a bad cook, it was just different. Not a bad different but just not her mom’s…She looked at her brother and dad but they didn’t seem bothered by it.

“I saw Haruhi try to kiss Gima during lunchtime,” Rio spoke suddenly, interrupting the silence.

“Oh.” Mitsuko tensed a bit when her brother and dad looked over at them like their conversation was under a spotlight. “She’s always doing that--I think she loves him.”

Gakushuu scowled. “Gima doesn’t even like her, she’s annoying.”

Rio looked amused. “Well, she keeps trying to—“

“Gakushuu, did you review the reading I assigned you yesterday?” Dad interrupted the conversation like Rio hadn’t been speaking.

Mitsuko grimaced, casting a nervous look at Rio who was frowning.

“Yes.” Gakushuu neatly wiped his mouth with the napkin, sitting straighter.

“And your commentary on ?”

Her brother stabbed his beef in the stew. “Sun Tzu’s strategy on ‘when the outlook is bright bring it before their eyes, but tell them nothing when the situation is gloomy’ applies false optimism,” he said dully while Rio looked surprised. “If the soldiers grow complacent they won’t fight like they’re facing death.”

“Uh…” Rio looked at Mitsuko.

Mitsuko just smiled proudly. “Gakushuu’s good at devising strategy.” She smiled up at their dad. “Dad, I read it too and I think—“

“Simply put but yes, false optimism is not correct motivation.” Dad looked at Gakushuu like he was the only one in the room which made her feel an ache in her throat. “But a leader must also keep their followers motivated.” He ate some of his stew. “When addressing a dire situation you must keep your followers calm and make sure they focus on inputting their entire energy into defeating the energy—instead of lying about the situation, you must stress the impending death that—“

“Why are we talking about death during dinner?” Rio spoke up, her voice cutting through the conversation like a gong.

Mitsuko and her brother both stared at her in alarm and then looked at their dad.

Dad slowly turned to look at Rio like he was only just remembered she was there. “Excuse me?”

Mitsuko cringed and immediately felt her appetite leave when her stomach twisted.

Rio visibly tensed, but still didn’t look away. “Well…my mom says it’s not polite to talk about death when people are eating….”

There was a long stretch of silence as their dad just stared at Rio.

Mitsuko fiddled with her spoon as she watched them both cautiously, the tension getting thicker each passing second.

Then a small thin smile crept onto dad’s face. “My apologies!” He chuckled lightly, which caused Mitsuko to exchange a worried look with her brother. “I apologise that such talk made you _uncomfortable_ , Nakamura. Where are my manners?”

Rio shifted, looking uncomfortable. “Um, it’s fine, Mr Asano, I just meant—“

“Discussion of learning is a common pastime at dinner, but it’s fine if it’s not quite up to your speed,” He ate some more while Rio’s shoulders hunched up. “The truth is I’m so used to our routine.” he continued lightly, sipping some juice as he looked down at the brown-haired girl like she was a spec of dirt. “I practically forgot you were here.”

Mitsuko winced, feeling her skin and inside recoil when she looked at Rio who was staring up at him in shock, her gaze full of confusion and hurt.

Mitsuko opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of what to say or if she even could say…

Dad sighed, placing the juice down. “Honestly, discussing so much knowledge can be a distraction itself really.” He dabbed his mouth with the napkin. “Let’s move onto something else, shall be we?” He smiled pleasantly at all three of them. “I understand there was a small practice test today for Geography?” He picked up his cutlery again. “How did everyone do? Gakushuu?”

Judging by the look in his eyes, she had a strong feeling he already knew the answer…

“I got first place,” her brother replied quickly.

Mitsuko grimaced, trying not to look at Rio. “I came third…”

“And Nakamura?” Dad asked lightly, not bothering to look at them. “What did you get?”

The hurt and confusion started to fade from Rio’s face, as she seemed to understand where this was going. “…Tenth…”

“Really?” Dad hummed, raising an eyebrow at her. “ _Tenth_?”

Mitsuko looked down worriedly when she saw Rio clench her hands under the table.

“Yes,” Rio replied, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Interesting…” Dad wasn’t even trying to pretend to be polite. “Well, I suppose we all stumble every now and then.” He smiled at her thinly. “Perhaps, Gakushuu and Mitsuko could help you catch-up?” His smile widened. “I know your mother mentioned something about getting you a tutor since you’ve been struggling to focus. I’m sure some extra help from my son would speed you right up?”

Rio’s glare looked murderous; she gritted her teeth and mumbled just above a whisper, “Shut up…”

Mitsuko stared at her in horror and prayed it had been only loud enough for her to hear, and when she saw the disinterested look still on her father’s face she felt a swell of relief.

“Mumbling is reserved for animals and infants, Nakamura.” Dad sighed, drinking his juice. “Speak clearly or else not at all.”

Rio’s cheeks burned red and her glare grew fierce. “I said…”

Mitsuko grabbed her hand under the table and squeezed tight, feeling like she’d ill and wanting this to be over.

Her friend hesitated, the glare in her eye smothering like a flame starved from oxygen as their dad stared down at her passively.

“Thank you…sir,” Rio ground the words out, lowering her gaze _. “_ But, I can catch up by _myself_.”

“Well, if you’re so certain,” dad replied lightly, smiling politely. “I would advise not trying to skip school like last time, every lesson is a precious component of your education.”

Mitsuko cringed and ducked her head when she remembered them getting caught and the consequences that came after.

“Yes, we know,” she replied, not looking at him directly.

Dad hummed, taking another sip of his drink before turning back to her brother. “Now, regarding further the nine situations, what is your interpretation of section 56…?”

The rest of the dinner consisted of dad asking her brother questions throughout while Gakushuu responded.

Rio didn’t make a single sound for the rest of the meal. Even when Mitsuko kept shooting her looks and hold her hand, half-afraid that if she let go Rio would ask to leave and go home before the sleepover even began.

The two of them didn’t speak until they were finally excused to Mitsuko’s room.

“I hate your dad.”

Mitsuko froze, half-lifting a cushion to make their fort from the bed blankets. When she turned to stare at her best friend, she nearly cringed at the look in her eye. Her friend’s expression was cold and closed off, which was the opposite of what it normally was.

“What?” she turned around and looked at her nervously as she held the pillow tight.

Rio chewed her lip and glared at the floor briefly. “Your dad.” She grimaced, looking up at her with complete earnestness. “I _hate_ him.”

* * *

_Oh, crap._

_Oh, god…_

_Rio could be dead or worse!_

Mitsuko nearly tripped over and roll down the mountain when she ran, using all the training Karasuma had instilled in them to not fall flat on her face.

Why had she been so honest in that session?! Now things were even worse!

She jumped over a log and swore under her breath. “Shit. Shit. _Shit_!”

Her phone started buzzing. “Mitsuko!”

She hastily grabbed her phone from her pocket. “Can’t really talk right now, Ritsu. My girlfriend might be dead!”

Ritsu looked anxious. “I know! That’s why I hacked into the Main Campus cameras again.”

“What?” Mitsuko looked at the screen and then yelped when she skidded on some mud and barrelled into a tree trunk. “Ugh!”

The phone dropped on the ground in the mug. “Are you okay!”

Mitsuko pushed herself off the tree and the promptly fell in the wet mud. “Ah!” She rubbed her sore face. “Damn it!”

“I have the footage, look!” Ritsu hurriedly brought up the camera footage of her dad’s office.

“What?!” Mitsuko groaned from the disorientation, rubbing her eye as she picked up the phone. “Wait, this is live right?”

“—You’re a son of bitch!” Rio’s voice screamed through the phone.

“Uh, yeah, it’s live…” Ritsu said nervously.

Mitsuko clutched the phone tight, not even caring that she was sinking more in the mud.

Her dad was sat behind his desk while Rio was standing and looking ready to explode.

“You know that right?” Rio said while the Principal remained silent. “You’re a terrible father, you’re a terrible person,” Rio told him, walking over to the desk. “You don’t deserve Mitsuko, and you don’t deserve Gakushuu.” She crossed her arms. “And if you think bringing me in here as some kind of creepy scare tactic is going to stop me from being with Mitsuko, then you’re wrong.” Her teeth were bared.”I don’t care what you think, I love Mitsuko and if you think I’m going to control our relationship then you’re even more delusional than I thought!

_She loves me!_

Mitsuko felt a swell of affection at the admittance. “She loves me…”

Rio glared at the Principal, looking angrier than Mitsuko had ever seen her. “You are an asshole, and the fact you have the audacity to say ‘you’re concerned of the sexual nature of our relationship’ is proof enough that you honestly still don’t get it.”

Mitsuko’s stomach plummeted.

_What had he said to her?!_

Dad remained stonily silent while Rio paced in front of his desk.

“You’ve known me for since I was a kid and you still don’t have a clue,” Rio continued fiercely. “The fact you think I’m a...” She looked like she’d laugh. “So apparently I have to spell it out to you.” She balled her hands into a fist. “I am not _hormonal_ or whatever you _think_ I am in that messed head of yours. Sometimes I mess up, and yeah, I do stupid shit that can sometimes get us trouble but don’t insult Mitsuko by putting her on a pedestal and blaming everything on _me._ You don’t get to come and act like you’re father of the year when you spent ten years being a bag of shit!”

Dad’s eyes narrowed, clasping his hands on the desk. “…Are you quite done?”

Her girlfriend looked ready to punch him. “What do you want?”

“I didn’t bring you here to intimidate you.” His eyes narrowed. “I simply wanted to talk.”

Rio made a choked broken laugh noise. “Oh, _Really?_ ”

“Yes.” Dad cleared his throat. “I just want to talk so we understand each other.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rio grew more on guard.

Dad sighed deeply. “I’m talking about trying to make sure my daughter is happy.” He stared at her coldly. “That’s a mutual ground we can both agree on, correct?”

Rio looked at him suspiciously. “…Yes.”

Mitsuko stumbled to her feet, her shoes sliding in the mud as she stared at the screen in awe.

“Good.” He stood up out of his seat. “I won’t disagree with you regarding my…less than ideal actions in the past. You’re absolutely correct in what you believe my assumptions of you were,” he said lightly while Rio tensed. “I don’t like you, Nakamura, I never have. In my eyes you’ve always been a pest.” He moved around his desk and sighed. “But I’m _trying_.”

Rio glared up at him when he came near. “Trying what?”

“I’m trying to understand why daughter loves you,” he replied, sounding tired. “I’m _trying_ to be a better father and accept that my assumptions of you were incorrect.” He grimaced. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately, on my actions, my children...I’ve come to some realisations over the last three months.”

Mitsuko slowly walked down the mountain as her eyes stared fixed on the screen.

Rio shifted uneasily, crossing her arms in a way which was trying to mask her discomfort. “Really…”

“My children are the most precious thing to me.” Dad stared at his palm for some reason, tracing it with his finger. “Over the years I thought I could ignore the paternal instinct, but over the last few months, it’s become stronger. So much so that I really would kill myself if they died…”

Rio choked and reeled back in alarm. “What the…?”

Mitsuko felt her stomach twist as a morbid spark of love swelled up at his words.

_He really loves us that much…_

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I lost them.” Dad continued like normal, smiling faintly like he was thinking of a fond memory. “That thought alone made me want to claw my own hair out.” He sighed. “Such a weakness that I had to distance myself just to keep my sanity…I was afraid of just how much I loved them and how much of a weakness that was.”

Rio looked pale and disturbed. “I…”

Dad clasped his hands behind his back. “Having a positive relationship with my children has made me the happiest I’ve been in years,” he admitted, smiling fondly when he looked out of the window. “So much so that I’ve started to see it as a strength.” He frowned. “And with this divorce…” His frown deepened when he sighed. “I’ve been possessive over their time…smothering them. I want to keep them close and make sure they stay safe. _Always_ …”

Mitsuko felt something stir in her chest when she listened, remembering how paranoid he’d been acting.

“I used to hold Gakushuu for hours when he was a baby.” Dad stared at his hand. “Now he flinches when I try to hug him.” His hand clenched into a fist. “They’ve grown up so quickly. Soon I’ll barely see them…”

Mitsuko’s heart ached as there was a long stretch of silence.

“Uh…” Rio looked terrified that the Principal of the school was actually bearing his heart out to her. “Um…geeze, um… _that’s rough_ …” She looked at the door. “Can I go—?“

“No.” Dad’s gaze turned sharp, freezing her in place. “So as you can see, even if they hate me, I will protect them because I love them.”

“I’m not trying to take your daughter from you if that’s what you’re paranoid about.” Rio looked around warily like she was trying to escape. “And I’m not trying to ruin her ‘ _innocence_ ’ or whatever you _think_ I’m trying to do.” She narrowed her eyes at him warily. “Like I said, I l _ove_ her, and the last thing I want is to hurt her.”

“…Yes, I can understand that,” dad replied evenly. “Which is why we’re having this conversation.” His brow furrowed. “Due to my actions, Mitsuko is vulnerable…” He grimaced, shifting his gaze to the window briefly. “No matter how much stronger she is now. I worry about her constantly. I worry about Gakushuu…”

There was a long pause, as Rio stared at him cautiously and dad looked deep in thought.

“I’m _concerned_.” Dad grimaced. “After your fight with Mitsuko, it came to light some disturbing information regarding her mind-set in your relationship.”

Mitsuko stumbled when she realised what he’d say.

_No!_

_He had no right!_

“What?” Rio’s brow furrowed, looking concerned.

“My daughter believes any negative emotions you exhibit are her fault,” he continued while Mitsuko raced further down the mountain.

Rio’s eyes widened like saucers. “How—what are you talking about?”

“No, no, shut up!” Mitsuko yelled at the phone, running faster. “Please just shut—“

She tripped over a rock and went tumbling down the hill.

The phone slid from her hand and went skidding down, cracking the screen as it rolled down the mountain like bouncing ball picking up speed.

“Fuck!!” Mitsuko yelled, forcing herself onto her elbows as the whole front of her uniform was covered in mud. “No…”

She ground her teeth and forced herself onto her knees, dragging some twigs and leaves from her hair as she hurried down the rest of the way.

* * *

Everyone was in class when she entered the main campus and the mud had dried onto her clothes, staining them when the thicker blobs had caked off ad crumbles.

Mitsuko pulled another twig from her hair and rubbed her cheek, hurrying to her dad’s office.

She was out of breath when she burst through the doors in a panic.

Dad raised an eyebrow from where he was leaning against his desk with his arms folded, while Rio was still standing in front of him and looked over her shoulder in surprise.

“Mitsuko?” Rio rushed over. “What the hell happened?!”

“Why are you covered in dirt?” dad asked dryly, looking her over with a frown.

Mitsuko’s face turned red. “I tripped on my way down here!” Then she quickly turned to her girlfriend. “But that’s not important!”

“It kind of is,” Rio said, frowning at her. “Are you okay?” She touched her shoulder and looked her up and down. “You’ve got some bruises on your legs.”

“It’s fine,” Mitsuko insisted, swallowing. “Rio, look, whatever dad’s said, it isn’t the full story!” she said quickly. “I should have been more honest about my feelings but it’s not like I’m afraid of you. I just wanted you to be happy and not worry so much about me—and for the record, you have _never_ forced me into an uncomfortable position—“

“Mitsuko, calm down.” Rio looked worried, grabbing her hands. “You look like you’re gonna pass out.”

“Sorry!” Mitsuko let out a deep breath, feeling exhausted as the adrenaline wore off. “I just…” Her eyes welled up with tears. “I just…” she mumbled, closing her eyes tight. “I’m sorry for…I should have…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Rio said gently, pulling her into a hug. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine.” She sighed while Mitsuko sniffled. “Whatever issues I have with your dad shouldn’t have been handled like that.”

“It’s okay for you to be mad, I get it,” Mitsuko said quietly, burying her face under her chin. “I know how frustrating it is and I know how horrible he can be…I shouldn’t have ignored how upset he makes you or how mean Gakushuu could be to you sometimes.”

Rio sighed, kissing the top of her head. “It’s okay. I don’t want you to choose between me and family, and…I should have confronted them about it ages ago,” she told her softly. “I don’t want ever put you in a position where you’re uncomfortable like that. I’m sorry.”

“I should be more honest with you, though,” Mitsuko replied, her head resting on her chest while she was held. “But sometimes it’s hard, and even when I tell myself you won’t care, it’s like my head keeps saying you’ll get mad so I shouldn’t say anything…” Mitsuko grimaced and lifted her head, wiping her eyes. “It’s like my head is in two different places…”

“Yeah, well…” Rio glared over her shoulder at the Principal. “You had _questionable_ parenting.”

Dad’s eyes narrowed at her before softening when they shifted to Mitsuko. “I accept that my actions may…” He paused. “… _Have_ influenced this negative outcome.” He sighed and moved off the desk. “Nakamura and I have reached an understanding.”

Rio raised an eyebrow. “Not exactly but sure let’s go with that phrasing.” She shook her head and turned back to Mitsuko. “You’re dad’s insane…” She leaned in closer. “…Like actually fucking _crazy_ ,” she whispered. “But I understand… _kind of_.” She sighed. “Your whole family is just…you guys have issues, and I…I’m starting to accept that.”

Mitsuko sighed, looking down. “I know they can be stressful, but we are getting better…sort of.”

“I know.” Rio sighed again, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m never going to fully understand, but I’m going try and from what I’ve realised, we’re just going to have to compromise.”

“Really?” Mitsuko felt a swell of warmth. “You’d really do that?”

“Well, yeah, you’re my girlfriend,” Rio said, blushing as she avoided her gaze. “I do…you know…love you.”

Mitsuko nearly choked on a sob. “I l-love you too!”

Rio’s blush darkened when she looked at her. “Glad we’re on the same page then.”

Dad cleared his throat. “Now regarding the compromise…” He walked closer to them as Mitsuko eased out Rio’s arms. “I’ll extend your curfew to 9:30 in the evening, and the schedule can be more flexible to accommodate your social life,” he said curtly. “But for the next six months while you’re out in the city your tracker will stay on between 6 to 9:30pm—in which time I will not contact you unless there is an absolute emergency.”

Mitsuko started to smile. “Really?”

He sighed, not looking happy about it. “And furthermore, you and Nakamura can spend some alone time in your room, under two conditions.” He raised two fingers. “The door must not be fully shut, and there will be no activity besides kissing and…” He looked like he was struggling to find the right word. “...Hugging on the bed?”

Rio snorted, looking like she’d laugh. “It’s called cuddling.”

The Principal grimaced. “She may also stay the night so long as she sleeps in the guest room.” His eyes narrowed at them. “And no nightly visits after 11pm.” His gaze grew stern. “These terms are non-negotiable.”

Mitsuko’s smile grew warm, wrapping her arms around her father in a tight hug. “Thank you!”

He sighed loudly, picking a twig from her hair and flicking it to the floor. “Now I expect no more arguments or yelling regarding this.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“And you’re still covered in mud…” he remarked dryly, wrinkling his nose as some of the mud got on his suit.

“I know.” Her smile grew crooked, holding his tighter. “My phone also kind of got lost on the way here as well…”

Dad let out a deep breath. “…Of course it did.” He picked another twig from her hair. “Go to reception to get a spare uniform—you can’t attend classes like this.”

Mitsuko pulled away and shrugged. “It’s not like E Class will care.” She smiled up at him cheekily. “We barely obey the uniform rules as it is!”

Her dad’s eye twitched in annoyance. “Go clean up and get another uniform.”

“Okay, fine.” She huffed, holding Rio’s hand.

Rio smile and held her hand tight. “Come on, let’s get out of here before Koro-sensei starts thinking I got murdered.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Mitsuko’s smile grew, leaning closer as they walked out together. 


	73. It wasn't a surprise

Mitsuko looked outside the café window as it rained, a few people without umbrellas were holding newspapers or jackets over their head as they ran to shelter from the pour.

“Good thing I remembered an umbrella,” mom said, smiling faintly as she drank her tea.

Mitsuko glanced at her. “Oh, yeah, good thing.” She picked up her latte and drank as they lapsed into another silence.

“…So is Karma coming around on Friday?” Mom asked.

“Uh, huh.” She nodded, warming her hands around the mug. “We’re walking home after school together with Gakushuu.”

Mom smiled slightly. “That’ll be nice.” She hummed. “I’ll make sure the spare room is ready for him.” Her smile grew. “He’s such a funny young man! And it’s nice seeing Gakushuu relax more with his friends.”

Mitsuko nearly choked. “Uh, I wouldn’t call them friends, mom…”

“Don’t be silly.” Mom rolled her eyes. “Of course they’re friends.” She shook her head in amusement. “Boys just like to play rough sometimes. It’s play-fighting.”

Mitsuko wasn’t sure if she should laugh or not. “Uh, right...sure.” She drank her drink and shrugged. “If you say so.”

Mom nodded, eyeing her from behind the tea mug as another silence settled for a while.

“…So, have things been patched up with you and Rio?” Mom asked lightly.

“Yes,” Mitsuko replied, watching her mom warily. “Things are okay now.”

“Good…” Mom tapped her fingers against the mug, looking down. “I want you two to be happy.” She cleared her throat. “…And um…”

“Yes?” Mitsuko arched an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”

Her mom blushed, avoiding her gaze. “Look, I don’t—I’m not really homophobic!”

_Oh, great…_

Mitsuko slumped in her chair and groaned. “Mom…”

“It’s true! I’m completely fine with you and Rio dating,” Mom said quickly while Mitsuko just sighed again. “It’s just hard for me to process still…”

Mitsuko wanted to bury her face in her palm. “Wow…I’m so sorry, it’s so hard for you.” Her hand slid down her face slowly as she raised an eyebrow. “I couldn’t even imagine how hard it is having to process all of that…”

Mom looked more embarrassed. “I’m to saying it isn’t hard for you—but it’s just…” Her voice lowered. “You’re my daughter, and how you are is different from how I thought well…you know what a lesbian—I mean Bisexual person would be.”

“Yeah, because I’m the first and only non-straight person you’ve probably talked to, mom,” Mitsuko replied dryly. “Look, I’m sorry I upset you by calling you homophobic, I know you’re trying your best to understand…”

“I am!” Mom nodded, frowning. “I’ve searched the internets and…um…” She quickly reached into her bag. “I tried to find books on it—but most of it looked inappropriate and a little too sexual.”

Mitsuko buried her face in her palm and sighed.

“But I found this sweet little novel that was nice!” Mom took out a book which was written in English. “There aren’t any Japanese translations, but I can understand enough.” She flipped through the pages. “It’s about this American boy who lives in a small town who has a crush on someone…there isn’t much physical affection but he ends up kissing one boy and they even hold hands.”

“…Oh, wow…” Mitsuko wasn’t sure how to react. “That’s…nice…”

Mom nodded and looked through the pages. “Not much has happened in terms of conflict, but it was a nice read.”

“…That’s nice, I guess.” Mitsuko frowned. “But there’s a few history books and autobiographies on it that would be better for getting facts.” She smiled slightly. “Fiction is nice, but it doesn’t really give the full picture of what it’s like.”

Mom seemed to consider this. “I suppose you’re right.” She put the novel away. “That would be interesting.” She smiled at her. “But see, look, I’m trying.”

Mitsuko sighed and then smiled grimly. “Yes, mom, I know.” She reached out and held her hand. “And I really appreciate it.”

“Good.” Mom beamed and squeezed her hand tight. “Also since we’re being honest, I am secretly grateful you’re not one of those tomboy lesbians.”

Mitsuko’s eye twitched. “Uh…”

“You’re so pretty and I think I’d cry if you cut your hair and wore boy’s clothes,” Mom said told her, looking relieved. “It’d be such a waste.”

It took all Mitsuko’s willpower not to bash her head against the table. “Right…” She was too tired to even argue. “Anyway! Did you find a new place for us to live?”

“Oh, yes.” Mom nodded, taking out her phone. “It’s a rental since I can’t get a mortgage right now because apparently, I’m high risk…” Her smile faded as she looked through her phone. “Legally speaking your father doesn’t have to pay me that much financial support since I’m listed as the primary guardian, but we’ve talked and agreed on an amount.”

“That’s good.” Mitsuko smiled grimly. “At least he’s willing to support.”

“Yes, but the security in it isn’t very well protected,” mom replied, frowning. “I suppose I’m lucky he’s being generous in his financial support but it’s just…” She looked very uncomfortable. “It means he still has a large level of control over everything.”

Mitsuko grimaced, growing uneasy. “I know…but it won’t be forever.” She held her mom’s hands tight. “Me and Gakushuu will be going to university soon, so then you won’t have to worry about looking after us, we’ll be eighteen and we’ll find our own way to make money—then we can look after you.” She smiled grimly. “You don’t need to ever be afraid of dad or feel like you have to stay in his good books.”

Mom sighed. “I know, I just worry sometimes…” She grimaced. “I have…there is someone—it’s just if I wanted to enter a relationship with someone new, I don’t want to have to worry about getting your father’s permission…” She cringed, looking embarrassed. “He can be quite possessive and he does still love me…and if he’s responsible for a majority of the financial support…”

Mitsuko’s stomach twisted. “If dad even thinks for a second that he owns you, me and Gakushuu will put him in his place,” she said fiercely. “You can go out and be with whoever you want. It’s your life.” She looked at her worriedly. “You’re not having second thoughts are you?”

The thought of her mom staying with her dad just to stay financially stable was nauseous enough to make her vomit.

“No, I’m not having second thoughts,” Mom insisted, frowning.

Mitsuko sighed in relief. “Okay, good.” She let go of her hands and smiled at her. “Because no amount of money is worth that.”

Mom still didn’t look that relieved. “Yes, I suppose.” She sighed and looked out of the window. “It does make things sort of easier—but I suppose that’s the kind of thinking that got me in this mess.”

“It’s not a total mess,” Mitsuko murmured.

Mom’s smile was remorseful, looking down at her cup. “When I first got pregnant, one of my friend’s said I didn’t have to give up work, and I didn’t really want to…” She frowned. “Even your father said I didn’t have to but…all the other women said it’d be selfish to keep working while raising children and…” Her mom’s expression grew sad. “Then I found out I was having twins and your father had so many dreams…” She sighed. “I always had to just go along with what everyone else said, that was my problem.”

“…You aren’t doing that anymore more, though,” Mitsuko pointed out, smiling warmly. “You can still follow your dreams.”

Mom’s smiled faintly, but she didn’t look like she believed her. “Maybe…” She reached out and brushed some hair out of her face. “If not, you two will blow the world away. You and your brother are going to be amazing.”

Mitsuko grinned. “Well, I am plotting world domination with my friend Ritsu.”

Her mom laughed. “Oh, really? And who’s she?”

“An AI,” Mitsuko replied flippantly, causing her mom to choke.

“A what?”

“She’s a supercomputer.” Mitsuko shrugged while her mom looked terrified. “Our friend Takebayashi is helping us as well with it, we’re thinking of having the whole system under our control by 2030.”

* * *

March began tomorrow.

_Which meant they had until the end of March until everything was over._

Mitsuko felt the anxiety start to build up in her chest the longer she tried not to think about it, resting her head on her dad’s shoulder while they were sat in the waiting room of the therapy office waiting for her and Gakushuu’s session to start.

Dad turned the page of his book which was about Astrophysics and was classed as ‘light reading’. He seemed to sense her tensing more in her shoulders since he glanced at her briefly and started petting her head soothingly.

She sighed and tried to calm down the anxiety building up, snuggling closer to her dad while he gently stroked the back of her head.

Gakushuu sighed, sitting next to her and had his eyes glued to his phone. “Mom texted saying dinner will be ready at six.”

Mitsuko hummed, trying to read the text from her dad’s book. “What are we having?”

“Unagi with rice.”

“Is it grilled?”

“Probably,” her brother replied.

She hummed, feeling her stomach grumble from hunger. “Sounds good…”

A second later the door to the office opened and a young man walked out.

Mitsuko sat up and shifted away from her dad when she saw Dr Yokoyama appear while the other man walked away.

“Hello, you two.” He smiled at them. “I’m ready when you are.”

Gakushuu nodded and stuffed his phone in his pocket while she stood up to follow the therapist into the office.

“So your father’s taking you home afterwards?” Mitsuko nodded, closing the door behind her. “Yeah, mom already went on ahead to get dinner started.”

“Ah, I see.” He sat down in his armchair while they sat on the sofa. “Are you both excited for your graduation?”

Gakushuu nodded. “Yes, it’s just over two weeks away.”

“He already has his speech prepared,” she commented, smirking faintly.

He scowled at her. “Of course, it’ll be our final assembly.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Even though 80% of the students will be carrying on to the high school.”

“Actually only 77% will be attending the high school,” her brother correctly. “Which is 5% lower than last year.”

“Yeah, well let’s blame dad’s crazy behaviour over the year for that,” Mitsuko said, frowning. “Frankly it’s a miracle the majority of A-Class is staying on.”

Gakushuu shrugged. “To be honest they’re so co-dependent it’s not a surprise.” He frowned when their therapist shot him a look. “Which I know is not how…” He struggled to find the word. “… _Friendships_ should be.”

Mitsuko smiled grimly. “But we’re working on it.”

Dr Yokoyama sighed, writing something down. “I see. And how are things with your father?”

She perked up. “He followed your advice,” she said brightly. “So things are a lot better.”

“That’s good to hear, I did notice you two weren’t glaring at each other,” he commented, sounding amused.

“Yeah, things are going well.” Her smile wavered when she looked at her brother. “Things with me and dad are good…”

Dr Yokoyama nodded, before turning to Gakushuu. “And how are things with you and your father, Asano-kun?”

Gakushuu’s expression tightened. “Fine…”

Mitsuko sighed, fidgeting.

“Really?” Dr Yokoyama tapped his pen against his chin. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

Her brother crossed his arms stubbornly. “Yes, it is…”

She grimaced and nudged him with her foot, earning a glare.

There was a long stretch of silence for a while as Gakushuu grimaced.

Dr Yokoyama stared at him a while longer before shrugging. “Well, if that’s—“

“It’s not as if it’s a big deal,” Gakushuu spoke, glaring at her. “It’s fine. I’ll get over it.”

“Will you stop saying that.” Mitsuko frowned at him. “This clearly isn’t something you’ll just get over. It’s important, Gaku-nii, and you said you would be more honest about these kinds of things…”

“That doesn’t mean I have to blab to strangers about it.”

“He’s our therapist, he’s here to help,” Mitsuko insisted.

Her brother scowled and glared at the other man who was watching them curiously. “I…” He curled his hands into fists on his lap. “It’s not a big issue.” He crossed his arms. “I just feel uncomfortable when our father tries to hug me…”

“Alright.” Dr Yokoyama nodded. “That’s understandable considering the physical abuse you were put under.”

Gakushuu grimaced. “It wasn’t really physical abuse…”

“He slapped you,” the man replied dryly. “That is physical abuse.”

“Yes, but he could have done worse,” her brother reasoned, frowning. “He is capable of worse.”

Mitsuko’s stomach twisted at that, holding his hand.

Gakushuu kept his gaze low. “He beat up my friends in front of me to teach me a lesson once…”

Their therapist’s eyes widened briefly. “He attacked your friends?”

“It wasn’t really an attack, technically,” her brother replied. “They didn’t press charges…they signed a form as well so…”

Dr Yokoyama gave a low and measured breath. “That…that must have been very hard.” He wrote something down. “Did your father apologise after?”

“…Well not specifically,” Gakushuu replied stiffly. “He’s said he’s sorry for behaving wrongly.”

“But has he ever apologised for slapping you or hurting your friends?” Dr Yokoyama asked.

Her brother shrugged, looking at the window. “No.”

Dr Yokoyama looked at Mitsuko. “Has he apologised for his behaviour towards you, Mitsuko?”

She frowned. “He’s said he’s sorry and that his teaching was too harsh and about upsetting us.”

“Yes, but has he apologised and acknowledge the trauma which severely affected you?” Their therapist asked.

Mitsuko tried to think, remembering all the handful of apologies he’d given.

Well, he apologised over that dinner saying he was wrong with his methods, that practically counted.

“I think so,” she said, frowning still. “He regrets what he’s done to us.”

“I see…” He turned back to Gakushuu. “Have you and your father spoke about what he did to your friends?”

“No,” her brother replied.

“Have you spoken about him hitting you?”

“No.”

Dr Yokoyama hummed, staring at her brother in concern. “Have you communicated to your father any of your feelings regarding his treatment of you?”

“Not particularly.” Her brother shrugged, looking tired. “I yelled at him and our mom at Christmas but that’s it really.”

Dr Yokoyama hummed, rubbing his chin. “That seems like a lot of thoughts to keep to yourself.”

Her brother smiled tightly. “Yes, well it’s a force of habit.”

Mitsuko looked over at him worriedly. “Yeah, it was sort of survival instinct.” She smiled grimly. “Though, I was never that good at keeping my thoughts to myself…”

Their therapist looked at them both. “Gakushuu, is it alright if I ask your initial thought process during the incident of your father hitting you?”

Her brother’s shoulder’s tensed. “Yes, it’s fine.”

Dr Yokoyama cleared his throat. “Well, when you were hit, what were your first initial feelings?”

“Relief,” Gakushuu replied instantly, shrugging. “It was better the hatred was finally out in the open.”

Their therapist looked concerned. “I see.”

“And it wasn’t as if it was a surprise,” he added.

“Huh?” Mitsuko frowned at him. “What do you mean it wasn’t a surprise?”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed. “Well, if dad was ever going to hit someone it would obviously be me.” He shrugged. “I’m the one who constantly tried to overthrow him.”

“Yeah, but you’re his favourite,” Mitsuko said, squeezing his hand.

“I was his favourite student,” he brother replied, frowning. “But he wouldn’t have hit you,” he insisted, making her stomach churn. “He knows if he hit you like that he could have broken your neck—you’re small.”

“I’m not small!” she snapped, feeling indignant. “5’2 isn’t small!”

“It is compared to the rest of us.” Her brother rolled his eyes. “The point is, he knows I can handle it.” He grimaced. “He hit me because I’m the one who gets under his skin the most.”

“That’s not true!” she blurted out. “If anything I’m the one who made dad the angriest.”

“But he didn’t lose his temper with you, not properly.” He started to sound impatient, shifting. “He controlled himself, he never lashed out because he’s always loved you more.”

_What?!_

“Dad doesn’t love me more!” She stared at him in alarm. “You’re the one who always got the attention!”

“That’s because I’m the oldest so there are certain expectations,” Gakushuu insisted, letting go of her hand as he stiffened. “Whatever I do is always held to a higher standard so he treated me more like his students.” He frowned at her, something bitter in his gaze. “But he’s always had a soft spot for you, why do you think it was so easy for him to show affection to you, why do you think he’s so doting on you?”

“That’s not…” She stumbled, shaking her head. “I’m the one he drugged!”

“What?” Dr Yokoyama’s eyes widened.

She ignored him and stared at her brother, feeling her hands tremble. “How is that having a soft spot?!”

“He used harsher methods on you because he cared more about you failing,” her brother said, scowling. “I’ve spent enough time with him to know how his mind works and he always admitted to treating you more like his daughter—you know I’m right.”

_But it wasn’t right, because Gakushuu was always perfect and everything their father wanted,_

“I’m the one he kept calling useless and a failure!” she closed her eyes tight, feeling the bad memories resurface. “I riled him up even more than you—I was the bigger disappointment—he lost control with me he—he threatened to bash my head into the wall!”

Gakushuu suddenly grew still. “What?”

She tensed, growing wary. “I just…I deliberately got him angry and said something I shouldn’t have so…so he grabbed the back of my head really hard and threatened to bash my head into the wall.” She rubbed the back of her head, looking down. “It was when he made me stay silent, remember? It was the night before.”

“…He…he grabbed you?” her brother repeated in a low and level voice.

“Well, it was more like _yanked_. He was holding me up by a bunch of my hair so it really hurt. ” She sighed, keeping her gaze low. “It was scary but he didn’t actually bash my head…” She grew guiltier at that. “It wasn’t as bad as him hitting you…”

_Maybe I am making this a competition…_

She grimaced, rubbing her arm.

_If Gakushuu feels like dad loves him less then I should listen more, I shouldn try to understand better…_

“Why didn’t you tell me?” her brother asked coldly.

“You weren’t exactly in a good mood…” Mitsuko winced, avoiding his gaze. “And dad told me to be quiet the rest of the night and then everything else happened with me jumping out of the window—“

To her alarm and before she and Dr Yokoyama could blink, Gakushuu got out of his seat and marched to the door.

“Asano?” Dr Yokoyama rushed to his feet.

“Gaku-nii?” Mitsuko stood up quickly and hurried after when he stepped into the hallway. “What are you…?”

Their dad looked up from his book in time for Gakushuu’s fist to connect to his jaw with one solid punch. 


	74. You should have kept hitting

Her brother wasn't a violent person, no matter how angry he was, he wouldn't think of hitting someone; he'd just use his words instead.

But she'd had realised very early on that all seemed to go out of the window when concerning her.

Like when they were eight and a much older boy had lifted her skirt in the hallway and then laughed with all his friends when she'd screamed and Rio had tried to hit him.

Mitsuko was sat next to her brother outside their Primary School Principal's office where their dad was inside speaking to Principal Hiroshima about the fight Gakushuu had gotten into and why her brother was currently holding an icepack to his swollen shut left eye.

Gakushuu numbly stared at the wall while Mitsuko kept shooting him unsure looks, wanting to apologise for getting him into trouble.

She hadn't even told him what had happened about the boy pulling up he skirt, but someone in class must have because the next thing she knew at lunchtime he was on top of the boy beating him bloody while everyone else huddled around and watched.

The older boy's face had been so swollen and blotchy from the punches it looked like he'd had poison ivy smothered over his face. 

Mitsuko grimaced and held his hand. "...Sorry."

His brow furrowed faintly, glancing at her. "Why?"

"Because I got you in trouble," she mumbled.

He sighed, shrugging. "It's fine. Someone had to teach that moron a lesson." He looked at his knuckles which still had blood on them. "Now he knows better."

They both tensed when the door opened and their dad walked out with Principal Hiroshima.

"I'm so sorry for the trouble," dad said brightly; his smile making Mitsuko feel a rise of dread.

"It's alright." The Principal shook their dad's hand. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way down but I had to follow procedure and your wife wasn't reachable."

"Yes, she's staying with family," dad lied, making both Mitsuko and her brother scowl. "I would like to extend my apologies to the poor boy, though." His smile tightened. "I hear he was quite injured."

"It wasn't anything serious – I've already suspended him and spoken with his parents" Principal Hiroshima replied dismissively. "He's a troublemaker anyway, I know Gakushuu was just defending himself."

Mitsuko frowned, because that wasn't really the truth since Gakushuu was the one who attacked the older boy first—

"Well, apologies for the trouble," dad said, smiling politely. "I'll make sure to buy you a drink when we meet up with the others next week."

That seemed to make their Principal laugh and pat their dad on the shoulder. "I'll hold you to it."

Her frown grew as she watched Principal Hiroshima go back into his office.

Dad's smile dropped the second their principal turned away and was out of ear shot. "Well this was a waste of time."

The two of them stiffened, drawing closer to each other.

"It's my fault," Mitsuko said quickly, as their dad looked down at them. "Gakushuu was defending me because that boy lifted my shirt in front of some older boys!"

"Yes, I'm aware." Dad sounded irritated as he looked at her brother."...And if you were going to earn a black eye over this, the least you could have done was put the boy in the hospital."

She looked up in shock while Gakushuu frowned.

"...I tried," her brother muttered.

"Clearly not hard enough." Dad bent down and gripped his jaw, making him wince when the ice pack was pulled away. "You should have kept hitting." Their dad's eyes narrowed, holding Gakushuu's jaw tight while they looked at each other. "If you're going to beat your enemy into submission, you make sure they can't get up." He turned his jaw to examine the large purple blemish on his face. "And don't be _stupid_ enough to do it in front of witnesses."

Her brother grimaced, glaring at the ground. "I wanted people to see." His gaze was cold when he looked up at their dad. "That way they know better."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "At the cost of your school record or suspension?" He pressed his thumb hard on the bruise, making her brother flinch and grit his teeth. "That isn't sending a message, that's pure stupidity." 

Mitsuko cringed. "He was just trying to defend me..."

"I'm fully aware of the circumstances, as I said." Dad's nose scrunched up, before looking back at her brother, a thoughtful glint in his eye. "If you're going to put your peers in their rightful place by force, don't waste my time by getting _caught_. Do you understand?"

Gakushuu glared at him and stayed quiet until their dad pressed harder on the blemished skin. "Yes..."

"Good." Dad stopped pressing on the bruise and released his jaw. "I also don't pay for those martial arts lessons for you to humiliate yourself by allowing them to land such a blatant hit— clearly you've been slacking."

* * *

Gakushuu kicked their dad in the stomach before he even hit the floor. It was a sharp kick which caused dad's body to jerk back a fraction as his knees hit the ground.

Mitsuko's eyes widened in horror, trying to grab his arm. "Stop!"

Dad clutched his stomach, knelt on the floor and glaring up at her brother in confusion and anger. "What are you—?"

Her brother yanked his arm free from her grip and kicked their dad again until dad finally regained his bearing long enough to grab his foot.

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, his eyes lit up with rage as he tried to punch him again but Dr Yokoyama and Mitsuko held him back.

"Stop!" Dr Yokoyama snapped, struggling to hold him back. "Asano, that's enough!"

"No, it's not!" Her brother moved back and broke free, shoving the man off him, and then kicked their dad in the chin as he was trying to stand up, knocking him back to the ground. "It's not even close!" Her brother clenched his fists so tight it was cutting off the blood flow. "He's a fucking piece of shit!"

Their dad looked up at him darkly, blood leaking from his mouth. "Then finish what you started."

Like a flame hitting gasoline, her brother lunged at him while Mitsuko scrambled to grab him; her hand briefly tugging his sleeve before she lost her grip and her brother tried to punch their dad who just....their dad didn't even try to block the punch to the stomach, sending him fully to the tiled floor.

Her brother moved over him, grabbing him by his tie as he raised his fist again—

"No!" Mitsuko tried to grabbed her brother's arm while it was in mid-air. "Gaku-nii, please! He isn't worth it!" She dug her nails into his arm, trying to hold back his arm. " _Please_ , just calm down!"

"That's enough!" Dr Yokoyama had managed to get back to his feet and was trying to pry his hands away. "Asano, it's alright. Just calm down."

Her brother's arm was tense like a coil being twisted until it was about to break as it was held back. His jaw was tight from how hard his teeth were clenched and bared, glaring down at their father whose expression was closed off.

"It's okay..." she said gently, watching his worriedly as she slowly lessened her grip on his arm. "You don't need to do this."

Gakushuu's arm tremored badly, as his mouth set in a thin pained line, blinking too much the longer he stared at their dad's bruised face and the blood leaking from his nose.

Her brother's eyes were wide like the bruises on his fist and the blood on their dad's face had't been caused by him. 

"I..." He made a choking noise like there were words stuck in his throat as he loosened his grip on their dad's tie and lowered his raised arm. "You..." His eyes starting tearing him, when he looked at his hands and started retreating in on himself. "I..."

Mitsuko touching his shoulder. "It's okay."

Her brother tensed up again and stood up quickly, running away before she could grab him or any of them could stop him.

* * *

Gakushuu would rather break his own fingers then let strangers or their father see him cry. That had always been obvious even from when they'd been kids. He'd always run away and go sob quietly, so the difficult task always came of finding him.

But since the therapists building was a block of offices located in the city, it wasn't that hard to find him; especially when you knew what he was like.

Mitsuko pushed the door open to the roof which was unsurprisingly open since the lock had been broken.

"Gaku-nii?" she called, peeking her head around the door to look out at the empty concrete flat roof.

Her brother was sat curled up with his back against the fencing of the roof that overlooked the city.

"You are way too easy to find." She fixed on a smile and walked over. "Like seriously, please at least try to give me the ring around one of these days."

Gakushuu curled his arms tighter around himself as he looked up, hurriedly wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Oh...hey..."

"Yeah, hey to you too." Mitsuko sighed, feeling nauseous when she saw how high they were. She sighed again and sat down next to him on the ground. "Please stop running off like that, sometimes I keep worrying I'll run after you and I'll never find you..."

Her brother sniffled, drying his eyes. "What you mean like _jumping out_ of a window?" He let out a shallow breath, rubbing at the red rings under his eyes. "That would be _terrifying_ wouldn't it?"

She grimaced. "Okay, touché..." Her brow furrowed, peering at him worriedly. "I guess we're both just...I don't know. I think there might be something wrong with us."

Gakushuu sniffled, bringing his knees up to his chin. "Well whatever it is, it doesn't look like it can be fixed."

Mitsuko hummed, looking up at the crescent moon. "Maybe..." She let out a deep breath. "But, we have time. So, I guess we'll just have to keep trying." She smiled at him feebly. "I'm sorry he made you angry."

Her brother's eyes narrowed at the ground. "It isn't enough to make up for what he did." His gaze grew colder. "I couldn't protect you...I couldn't even protect myself."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You've always protected me."

"Not for where it counts," he replied quietly, not looking up. "I couldn't stop him from drugging you, I didn't help you when he practically destroyed your self-esteem or when he outed you or when mom made your life hell..." His expression tightened. "I'm not a good brother—"

"Stop," Mitsuko said firmly, pulling him into a hug. "You can't protect me from _everything,_ Gakushuu." She sighed. "And even if you could, I need to learn things, sometimes the hard way."

"I still should have protected you more." Her brother closed his eyes tight and buried his head in her stomach as she held him. "I want to hate him...I should hate him."

"But it's hard. I know." She sighed and held him protectively. "Dad doesn't love me more Gakushuu," she told him quietly. "He just lowers his guard because he knows I'm not a threat and that I'm stupid enough to keep giving him second chances."

"You're not stupid," Gakushuu mumbled, clinging tighter. "Stupid is beating your own father with your fists in front of a therapist who's legally obligated to report it to Child services."

Mitsuko grew uneasy. "We'll deal with that when it comes..."

"...I assaulted our father." His voice was quiet and horrified. "What kind of person does that?"

She sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Someone who's angry that their father hurt his sister." she reassured him. "Because he's an amazing brother, even if he makes mistakes...and has horrible taste in movies." She heard him snort as he eased his hold. "He just needs to be more honest about his feelings instead of keeping bottled in..."

There was a long stretch of silence as she held him a while longer.

"...What would I even say?" he murmured, slowly pulling away to sit up.

She smiled grimly. "Well, telling him how much of asshole he is tends to make me feel better."

He scoffed, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "I assumed so since you used to do it all the time," he replied, frowning.

"True," she agreed, smiling warmly. "Well, the next idea would be to tell him how you feel."

Her brother grimaced. "Yeah and he'll probably laugh in my face."

"No he won't." She frowned, holding his hand.

He looked uncomfortable. "You don't get it...boys don't just talk about their feelings with their fathers."

"Says who?" She felt a burning anger start to build up. "Because apparently the same type of people think girls shouldn't kiss girls," she replied sternly. "So I guess we're both disappointments then."

Gakushuu's brow furrowed. "I suppose that's a relevant point..."

Mitsuko sighed. "Look, this isn't something you can just ignore, otherwise it'll just keep getting worse just like Dr Yokoyama." She looked at him sternly. "You have to talk to him, even if it's just telling him you hate him or how much of a bastard he can be."

Her brother stayed silent, staring at her thoughtfully before sighing. "Fine, I will..." He scowled. "If he doesn't try to sue me first."

"He won't be nearly as cocky if Dr Yokoyama gets child services involved," she said gravely, remembering the therapist's horrified expression. "I don't think he's used to our type of crazy."

Gakushuu scoffed. "You do realise his usual clients are alcoholics and depressed housewives?"

Mitsuko looked intrigued. "Huh, that makes sense..." She looked up at the sky as the sun was nearly set, dark orange clouds starting to grey from the lack of light. "Come on, we should go catch the train home." She smiled reassuringly. "I already told dad to go on ahead without us."

He looked unsure, staring at the bruises on his knuckles a while longer. "...Okay." He sighed, standing up. "Let's go."


	75. I’m not what you wanted

When they arrived home their father wasn't in sight and their mom practically ran into the hallway, looking at them worriedly as they removed their shoes.

"What happened at the therapist's office?" Her brow was furrowed, walking over. "Your father looked like he'd been attacked off the street!"

Mitsuko shared a grimace with her brother. "Uh..."

"Did he say anything?" Gakushuu asked after some hesitation.

"No," Mom replied, moving closer to him when she looked at his hands. "Why are you hands bruised.." her voice grew wary, as he tried to move his hands out of reach. "Gakushuu?"

"It's..." He avoided her gave. "I..."

Mitsuko's stomach churned as she watched, averting her gaze when mom looked over.

Mom's frown deepened, taking her brother's hands and lifting them up. "Gakushuu...did you...?"

Her brother stayed silent, tensing his shoulders as he looked at their mom. "...Yes. I did."

"Oh..." Mom's eyes widened briefly before a grim look settled. "Oh, sweetie..." She cupped his cheeks. "What did he do?"

"It's what dad did to me a few months ago," Mitsuko spoke up, looking at her brother. "He grabbed me and when I told Gaku-nii, things sort of..."

Gakushuu grimaced, looking down. "I was angry. I know I shouldn't have been violent but I was."

Mom sighed and pulled him into a hug. "It's okay." She kissed his forehead and smiled weakly. "I understand." Her smile faded as a sad look took over. "But I don't want you to be violent like that again, alright? That's not the type of person you are."

Her brother grimaced, nodding. "I know..." He looked down the hallway. "Is he home?"

"No." Mom frowned, looking at him and Mitsuko. "He left ten minutes ago."

Mitsuko stiffened. "Why?"

"I don't know, he didn't speak to me." Mom's expression tightened. "He went upstairs for a bit, and when I was trying to stop dinner from burning, I heard the door slam and he was gone."

"Did you call him?" Gakushuu looked more alert.

"Yes, but his phones off." Mom fidgeted, looking at them both. "I tried calling five times but it kept going to voicemail..."

Mitsuko felt like someone had poured ice over her. "And you're definitely sure he left ten minutes ago?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Mom's lips set in a worried line.

There were a few seconds of silence as the dread started to settle in.

"...Shit," Gakushuu swore, surprising their mom. "We need to find him _now_."

"I know." Mitsuko shakily pulled out her phone. "I think I can track him."

"But his phone's turned off," Mom told her.

That didn't mean it was impossible, Ritsu would know a way!

"Doesn't mean I can't track him." She fumbled to unlock it, a hundred horrible thoughts racing through her brain. "Ritsu, I..." She caught herself when she glanced at her brother. "Uh..."

Gakushuu came over. "What are you doing?"

She stumbled over her words. "It's um—I just need to...get something..." She moved around him. "In the...other room—"

"I'm here!" Ritsu's cheery voice boomed from the phone.

_Ah, shit._

Ritsu appeared on screen and out of breath, wearing a purple tracksuit. "Sorry! I was trying to hack into the web so I could—"

"AH!" Mitsuko yelled, making a shushing noise.

"What is that!?" Gakushuu looked confused when he walked over, trying to grab her phone.

She hastily dodged the grabs. "I-It's a...A digital assistant!" She said quickly and then laughed. "It's in BETA mode, super new on the market—she's like Siri but better!"

"Oh..." Her brother's eyes narrowed. "I've never heard of it..."

"Uh, yeah, emphasis on the _super new_ part," she said, forcing a smile as she straightened up. "She can help track dad with this tracking app I installed on his phone...and car."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. "You installed a tracking app?"

"Well, yeah, I mean he was tracking me so it only seemed fair, right?" she reasoned.

Her brother still looked suspicious. "Hm...well, I suppose—"

"Great!" She quickly turned to Ritsu. "Ritsu, find dad!"

Ritsu was frozen, her eyes shifting back and forth in panic. "Uh...yes! Of course!" She replied, stiffening as she stood to attention. "Finding contact ' _Sperm donor'_."

" _Sperm donor_?" Mom nearly choked from shock but they ignored her.

"Isn't there meant to be a loading screen?" gakushuu tapped he phone impatiently when Ritsu just stood there. "is there a lag?"

"Ah!" Ritsu jolted when the phone was tapped.

"Hey!" Mitsuko pulled her phone away. "Watch the screen!"

"Tracking da—'Sperm donor', unsuccessful!!" Ritsu replied stiffly.

"What?!" Mitsuko felt a rise of panic. "But what about the tracker in his car?

"Removed," Ritsu replied in a voice similar to her old one.

"Shit," Mitsuko swore, running a hand through her hair. "There has to be a way to track his phone though..."

"We're wasting time with this," Gakushuu said irritably. "We need to find him quickly."

"Well, what do you think I'm trying to do?!" Mitsuko snapped.

"Stop messing around with that stupid app then," he said sharply.

"Maybe he's at the school?" Mom suggested, wringing her hands. "Or the hospital or..."

Mitsuko grimaced. "He might be at the school..."

"Option suggested, Ritsu said monotonal, bringing up an image. "I traced his licence plate. It was ten miles over the speed limit and triggered a traffic camera."

Gakushuu looked over in shock. "How the hell did it do that without you even asking?

"Uh..." Mitsuko was sweating. "I-I told you she was better than Siri." She gave a nervous laugh. "S-she just keeps working on a solution until you tell her to stop! Amazing right!!"

Her brother didn't look like he believed that.

"Anyway!" Mitsuko quickly looked at her phone. "Ritsu, where was the licence plates last known location."

Ritsu brought up a map which pinpointed the car somewhere in the city. "It's in a short stay parking lot behind this block of offices."

Why would it be parked there...?

Mitsuko looked at her brother and felt her hands start to shake again. "We need to go now."

"I'll get the keys." Mom quickly took off her apron and grabbed the car keys.

Gakushuu looked sick and hesitantly grabbed her hand when he saw it shake. "It'll be fine. Come on." He tugged her hand.

Mitsuko swallowed a bad taste and nodded, following him and their mom.

* * *

When they arrived in the car park there was only their dad's car and another in the lot. It was dark now but too early for the nightlife to be in full swing, so it was less crowded.

Mitsuko hurried out of the car and ran towards where the parking attendant guard stall was. "Excuse me?!" She banged on the glass waking the man up from his nap with a jolt. "I'm sorry but do you remember the man who was in the black car over there?!"

The parking attendant rubbed his eyes groggily as Gakushuu and mom hurried over. "You mean the tall guy in a suit carrying a basketball?"

"Yes! He—wait, basketball?" She looked confused for a second wondering why he would be carrying that.

A blur of memories came of a boy holding a basketball but it felt like a dream.

_Ikeda?_

The hairs on her arms stood on end.

"Which way did he go?" Gakushuu asked quickly.

The guard pointed ahead where the exit was. "He went that way and took a left down the street."

"Thank you!" Mitsuko said, rushing to follow the direction. "Okay. Let's think for a sec!" She looked down the left turn their dad had taken. "Down there leads to the high street."

Gakushuu was concentrating on his phone. "And then to a river..."

Her stomach plummeted. "Oh, shit." She moved to his side to see the map. "There's a bridge—oh, fuck." Her eyes stung as tears gathered. "Shit."

The basketball, the bridge, everything was being pieced together like a nightmare.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Gakushuu said sternly, squeezing her shoulder. "Come on, let's go to the bridge and see."

"I can go ahead," mom told them, looking frightened. "I don't want you to see any—"

"I said, don't jump to conclusions." Gakushuu insisted firmly, grabbing Mitsuko's hand. "It'll be fine. He's just being an idiot. We'll go all together and see. Alright?"

Mom grimaced, nodding. "Alright then."

Mitsuko nodded, taking her brother's phone to follow the map. "Come on, it isn't far."

They walked as fast in almost a run down the street, the whole time she couldn't stop thinking of the worst outcome which made her heart feel like someone was trying to crush it, squeezing tighter and tighter the closer they got to where the bridge was.

People were walking back over the bridge going about their evening, but no one was standing or the edge, or at least not now.

Mitsuko felt like she could breathe, her eyes welled up with tears as she looked over the bridge frantically. "Dad..."

Gakushuu tugged her arm. "Look!"

He pointed ahead, and when she looked further ahead there was their dad, nearer the other side, sat down on the pavement with his back against the railing and cradling the basketball in his arms.

The relief hit her like a gush of wind, nearly knocking her off her feet, her brother was already pulling her along with him towards their dad.

"Dad!" Mitsuko yelled, running over with her brother.

When their dad looked up he grimaced when he saw them, holding the basketball tighter. "Oh...I wasn't expecting you, children..."

Mitsuko wiped her eyes and practically tackled him into a hug. "We were worried!"

"Exactly!" Gakushuu sounded angry, standing above them. "You can't just disappear and then turn off your phone!"

"Why did you come here?" Mitsuko asked quietly, feeling her stomach twist. "It's late."

Dad's grimace grew, looking away from them. "I just came here to think, that's all..."

She looked up at her brother who was wearing a similar doubtful look.

Mom stayed a distance away, watching warily. "Is...Is everything alright?"

Their dad grew quiet, staring at the basketball.

Mitsuko shifted around to sit next to him. "Um, mom, could you give us a minute?"

"Yeah..." Gakushuu hesitated before sitting down on their dad's other side. "Just give us a moment."

Mom didn't like she wanted to, but after a moment she nodded and moved further back, turning away and putting some more distance between them.

Mitsuko glanced at her brother before looking back at their dad. "You know...if you're wanting to play basketball this isn't really the place."

Dad hummed. "Yes, I know."

There was a stretch of silence, as passers-by kept glancing at them curiously, Gakushuu glared at one lady who gawked at them.

Her brother looked at their dad for a moment, gaze lingering on the bruises. "...I..." He quickly cleared his throat. "I apologise for assaulting you."

"Why?" Dad's voice was dull, still not looking at them. "I deserved it." His fingers dug into the ball. "If anything you should have left more damage."

Mitsuko winced, growing more worried.

"Regardless of whether you deserve it or not," Gakushuu said stiffly. "That doesn't mean it was right of me to injure you." He shifted his gaze down. "That's not the type of person I want to be."

Dad apprehensively lifted his gaze to look at him. "No, I suppose you don't," he said quietly. "I never wanted to be that type of person either." His voice grew softer. "But life has a way of changing things."

Mitsuko swallowed thickly. "True, but people change all the time." She forced a smile. "You've changed a lot."

Her brother shifted. "We need to get home, so whatever this is...we need to get home," he faltered slightly, trying to sound firm. "It's getting late." He looked at their dad sternly when their gazes met. "We can talk at home."

Their dad looked down and didn't move, staying still.

A brief look of panic flashed in Gakushuu's eyes, but it was gone quickly. "Dad.."

"Every time I dream about him, he's on this bridge," dad finally spoke, staring at the ball. Mitsuko grew cold. "I'm holding the ball and I can't move. I can't do anything. I'm just there the whole time it happens, and it's the same dream, with only variants," he murmured. "Sometimes I'm in the water, and he's..."

Mitsuko leaned against his arm, feeling her throat tighten. "That's..." She didn't know what she could say, blinking back tears.

"Is that why you came here?" Gakushuu's voice was flat and cold. "So you could kill yourself and be with him?"

Mitsuko felt her stomach twist horribly when their dad stayed quiet.

Dad's lips twisted gravely. "...You should have kept hitting me."

Gakushuu's gaze grew cold. "Why? So I'd murder my own father."

Dad actually flinched a little, causing Mitsuko to grip his arm tight like she was afraid he'd jump over and into the water.

"No, that's not what..." Dad sighed, trailing off.

"Then what? You just want someone to beat you to satisfy your self-loathing?" her brother kept pushing, glaring at their dad sternly. "You aren't using us like that!"

"Gakushuu's right, dad," Mitsuko said gently, sighing. "You can't deal with your feelings like this, it's self-destructive and it hurts us too..."

"She's right." Her brother grimaced, taking a deep breath. "You obviously have a lot on your mind so just...just tell us."

Dad gripped the ball tight and didn't respond as the seconds passed by. More people kept giving them looks but she tried to ignore them, looking at their father anxiously. 

"Dad, please..." Mitsuko urged, staring at him imploringly. "Talk to us."

He looked away from her. "...I'm dissatisfied with the choices I've made in life."

She shared a look with her brother. "Okay..."

Their father sighed again. "I've caused damage that can't be fixed," he continued. "The woman I love hates me and leaving me, and soon the two of you will be grown up and once that happens I may never see you again because you won't want to be around me." Something wavered in his tone. "Everyone I love will have left and the only person I can blame is myself..." His gaze was tired and resigned. "There are so many things I can't seem to fix."

"Some things take time..." Gakushuu muttered, looking at her meaningfully when her words from earlier came back.

"Dad..." Mitsuko wrapped her arms around him. "Yes, we're still angry with you for the bad things you did and all the rest that came with it." She took a deep breath. "But we're trying to work through it because we love you and we're a family."

Dad looked down at her hesitantly before placing an arm around her.

"Look," Her brother took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders. "Maybe you think I hate you, but I don't..." His expression tightened when their dad looked at him. "It would be a lot easier if I did, but I don't hate you." He scowled, staring at the ground. "You're my father and...and I..." He apprehensively reached out and placed a hand over his dad's. "I love you. Even if you don't."

"Gakushuu..." Shock washed over their dad's face, staring at him like he hadn't heard right.

Gakushuu glared at him. "You don't deserve it." He squeezed dad's hand tight. "But you said you'd try to be a better father, even if it takes years. I'm willing to try as well, if you just..." His voice shook faintly, stumbling. "I know I'm not Ikeda, and I'm not...I'm not what you wanted in a son but—"

"What are you talking about?" Dad sat up straighter, staring at him in disbelief. "You're more than I could ever hope for in a son." He reached out to him but stopped half-way, while Gakushuu stared at him warily. "You've made me prouder than I could have imagined." Dad's brow twitched agitatedly, cupping Gakushuu's cheek when her brother's eyes widened. "You're my _son_." He hesitated again. "I...I love you." He tightened his hold around Mitsuko. "I love _both_ of you."

She felt a warmth spread through her, looking over at her brother who was silent and shaking ever so slightly.

Gakushuu stared at their dad for a long time, some confusion in his gaze for a bit like he was trying to understand and decipher if their dad was telling the truth. "But...but Ikeda...he didn't have to do anything. You loved him—"

"I didn't try to make you strong so you could earn my love," dad told him firmly. "I punished and belittled you because I was afraid you'd be weak. I was afraid that if you weren't strong enough I'd lose you." Dad looked at him searchingly. "I never wanted a different son." He pulled him close and kissed the top of his head while her brother looked dumbstruck. "You're _perfect_."

Her brother's shoulders trembled badly, his eyes watering the more he blinked. He closed his eyes tight and buried his face in their dad's chest, burrowing close until his arms were wrapped around him.

"You should have told us that years ago." Mitsuko felt a sob threaten to come up from her throat, but she pushed it back and hugged her dad tight, ignoring the looks they were getting from the people walking by. "You have to let us _in_ dad and tell us how you feel, or else things won't get better."

Their dad held them tight. "I'll..." He kissed the top of her head, making her smile. "I'll try."

She nodded and sighed, hoping that maybe if they kept trying thing could get better.

* * *

Dad hissed when Mom roughly pressed an icepack to his bruised face. "Stop pressing so hard."

"Don't be ungrateful!" Mom snapped, pressing the ice back harder.

Mitsuko smiled faintly, sitting next to her dad on the sofa while the TV played a movie.

"Aren't you meant to wrap it in a cloth?" Gakushuu pointed out while he was eating from his bowl on his lap and the very end of while their dad was in-between them both.

"It'll do the job faster this way," mom argued, earning a shrewd look from dad.

Dad took the pack off her. "I can apply it myself." He held the ice pack against his cheek and narrowed his eyes at her. "You're just making it worse."

Mom huffed. "Fine, then." She sat down at the opposite end next to Mitsuko and ate her ice cream. "You're such _a child_. Gakushuu didn't complain when you hit him."

Dad scowled darkly but didn't say anything.

"She has a point," Mitsuko arched an eyebrow. "You're being overdramatic."

Dad glared at her. "Yes, well I'll consider that when I submit this as evidence against Gakushuu's lawsuit."

Mom's gaze was cold. "Don't you dare."

"I'll win either way," Gakushuu said firmly, eating his ice cream, and then looked at their father pointedly. "Besides, you do realise Dr Yokoyama will probably call child services soon after today."

Both mom and dad tensed, looking worried.

Mitsuko felt a swell of anxiety but she pushed it down. "Yeah, well, we'll deal with that when it comes."

"Yes, it'll be a hassle," her brother agreed, sighing. "But we'll handle it." He looked at their dad and shrugged, leaning against him. "God knows you need me to clean up your messes."

Dad looked surprised when he leaned on him, but then quickly tried to hide it. "I'm currently the one with bruises on my face, Gakushuu."

Her brother shrugged, licking his spoon. "I was _defending_ Mitsuko because you're an asshole—so frankly, it is still _your_ mess."

Their dad sighed and gently rested a hand on his head. "...Fair point."

Mitsuko smiled slightly and snuggled up against her mom when she wrapped an arm around her. 


	76. But it’s made with love

"Morning!" Mitsuko yawned and stretched, walking into the kitchen, and then nearly did a double-take when she saw her dad making pancakes in his suit with an apron on. "Uh...?"

"Don't ask," Gakushuu commented from the table, drinking some coffee.

Mom smiled sheepishly from where she was sat. "Um, your father offered to make pancakes..."

"Oh." Mitsuko peered around her dad to see the pancakes. "That's...new."

Dad patted her on the head and gave her a plate. "I just thought it would be nice after..." His smile was tight; the swelling on his face had gone down and the bruises were less dark but they were still blemishes painted over his left eye and right cheek. "I thought it would be nice."

"Right..." She shrugged off her confusion and smiled. "Thanks, dad!" Her smile grew. "You could even make them for Karma on Saturday!"

Dad's expression darkened. "No."

"Gakuhou..." Mom chided, narrowing her eyes. "He'll be our guest."

Dad grumbled something darkly under his breath before returning to the pancakes on the hob.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and sat at the table with her family, adding some lemon on the pancakes.

Gakushuu sighed. "Can't you just have a sleepover at Akabane's house..."

"Gakushuu," mom reprimanded. "Don't be rude."

Her brother scowled and poked at his pancakes. "It's not like his house would be crowded..."

Mitsuko kicked him under the table, earning a glare. "He likes hanging out here."

"I wonder why," dad remarked dryly, sitting down with them with his coffee and pancake.

She smirked. "Yeah, it's a mystery." She rolled up the pancake a took a large bite, enjoying the taste which brought back a wave of nostalgia. "The pancakes are nice..." The taste was similar to how he used to make the pancakes, but it was less sweet and wasn't quite how she remembered in it.

"Well, thank you," dad replied, sipping his coffee. "I know it's been a while since I made them."

Mitsuko hummed, eating them silently when old memories started to surface like wisps of old smells.

Their dad seemed to notice the unsure look on her face and patted her on the head, causing her smile faintly.

* * *

Telling her classmates about her father trying to kill himself for a second time hadn't been as hard of a conversation than she'd thought, and it had felt relieving.

"Well, shit," was all Rio could say when Mitsuko finished telling her what had happened last night. "That's..." She paused from braiding her hair from behind her, the two of them eating lunch with their friends. "I think I kind of feel bad for your dad..."

"Same." Sugaya looked like he'd lost his appetize, lowering his bao bun. "Sorry you had to deal with that, dude."

Mitsuko sighed, knitting the final touched to the rainbow scarf she'd been making. "Yeah, it wasn't exactly the easiest night." She shrugged, looking up at her friends who looked disturbed. "But we got through it."

"And what about Asano-kun, is he okay?" Takebayashi frowned, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah, are you all okay now?" Nagisa asked from the desk nearby, sitting with Karma, Sugino, Okuda, Kanzaki, and Kayano.

Mitsuko shrugged again. "We're better than before, which is something," she replied, pausing from her work. "Gakushuu seemed more relaxed after it and he seemed more comfortable being near dad..."

"Well, that's a good sign, right?" Kurahashi said from where she was eating with Kataoka, Yada, and Kimura. "It means he's not as afraid."

Yoshida shivered from the other end of the classroom. "Dude, I don't get how you two could ever feel comfortable around your dad!"

"Yeah, he's _a creep_!" Muramatsu complained.

Itona shrugged, eating some crisps. "That's because you two are pussies."

"HEY!" The two boys yelled while some of the others laughed.

Mitsuko smirked, picking away some stray wool from the scarf. "Well, my dad is a little scary—"

"A _LITTLE_?!" They all yelled in disbelief.

She chuckled. "Okay, _a lot_ , but he is better now." Her smile was warm. "He's really nice to us now."

"That's good, I'm still trying to fix things with my dad, so I know it can be tough."Kanzaki smiled gently. "It can be hard..."

Sugino cried in the background from lovestruck admiration. "Your so forgiving, Kanazaki!"

Mitsuko smiled encouragingly. "Well, mine didn't change until he nearly got blown up so yours will come around eventually."

"Yeah, I'll admit the Principal is a _little_ less of a jerk..." Rio smiled, kissing her cheek while she finished pulling her hair into a half-braid. "Still kind of hate his guts though."

She smiled sweetly. "Yeah, I figured."

Karma grinned, leaning back in his chair. "Don't worry, Rio, I'll prank him for you." His grin bared sharp teeth. "I'm sleeping over at their's this weekend."

Rio laughed along with the others, looking delighted. "Yes!"

"No!" Mitsuko sighed. "Karma, you know what my mom said."

Karma's grin didn't falter. "Don't worry, I can be subtle!"

"Bullshit!" A majority of the class yelled.

Karma rocked back and forth in his chair like an excited child. "It'll be a whole weekend playing with Asano-chan as well!!"

Takebayashi sighed. "You're going to get murdered..."

Mitsuko groaned. "I know, there's only so much I can do to protect him..."

Nagisa looked amused. "Karma, they're going to kick you out."

"No, they won't." Karma smirked, stretching. "Mrs Asano loves me!" He looked over at Okuda. "Okuda! Did you get those laxatives ready?"

_Oh, God no..._

"KARMA!" Mitsuko and a handful of her classmates yelled.

Okuda smiled sweetly, holding up a box. "Yep!"

"OKUDA, STOP GIVING HIM AMMO!" Isogai and Mitsuko shouted in desperation.

Okuda's smile was innocent. "But I'm just being helpful."

Terasaka barked out a laugh. "Oh, man! You better get a video!"

"Yeah, post it on the chat!" Fuwa grabbed her phone. "Ritsu, _please t_ ell me you can live stream!"

Ritsu smiled from her monitor. "Yep! I can automatically post it on the livestream!"

"GUYS! NO!" Mitsuko complained, burying her face in her hands. "This is going to end in murder, I just know it..."

Karma smiled widely. "But that's part of the fun!"

Mitsuko threw her spoon from her bento box at him. "Stop it!"

Her classmates laughed, and Rio kissed her on the neck, making her blush. "Your hair's done." Ro tugged the half-braid hanging down over the loose back of her hair. "It looks cute."

Mitsuko smiled and touched the braid. "Thank you!" She kissed Rio on the cheek, earning a wolf-whistle from Okajima who got hit by Kataoka in response.

There was a rush of wind when Koro-sensei appeared on the windowsill edge, holding a four giant bouquet of pink flowers a mix of pink roses and feather celosia, pink and white zinnias. "Hello, students!"

"Whoa, what's with the flowers?" Maehara asked, and then smirked. "You trying speed dating again?"

"No!" Koro-sensei turned away in shame and wept silent tears. "None of them returned my calls..."

"Didn't you say you bailed on one of them when the bill came?" Okano raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I believe you confessed to going to the bathroom and never returning," Takebayashi commented.

"I WAS BROKE!" Koro-sensei wept into the flowers. "The Principal gave me a pay cut _twice_!"

Mitsuko smiled sweetly. "Oops!"

"If you were broke then why did you agree to the dates?" Kayano asked, smiling crookedly. "Kind of seems counterproductive."

Koro-sensei wiped his eyes. "I couldn't back away from a commitment—That's not the way for a gentleman to treat a lady!"

"Uh, I think the lady might appreciate her date not bailing on her last minute," Hara pointed out.

He sniffled, placing the flowers on the desk. "Well, anyway, these flowers are for the classroom. I travelled all the way to Australia for them!" He sat at his desk and sighed, staring at the flowers. "I never had an eye for them but I think I did a good job doing an arrangement..."

Mitsuko looked at him curiously, noting the shift in his tone. "Why did you get so many?"

"Oh, no real reason," Koro-sensei replied cheerfully while his class looked on in interest. "Spring will be here again in a month..." He touched the flowers. "The Sakuras will be in full bloom by April..."

Mitsuko's stomach twisted, feeling a weight come down on her shoulders at the reminder.

* * *

She touched her braid absently as school came to an end, thinking about how long the year had seemed and yet how short it had actually been.

"Hey!" Karma flicked the back of her head, carrying a stuffed rucksack on his bag. "You coming or not?"

"Ow!" She glared at him, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm just thinking asshole."

Karma rolled his eyes and started walking. "Well if you don't hurry I'll shove wasabi up your brother's nose before you can stop me."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and stood up, grabbing her bag. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She glanced over at Koro-sensei who was editing some of the album. "How are you not done yet?" She walked over to the desk while Karma walked out of the classroom, a few others staying behind for their career meetings. "You have super speed practically."

Koro-sensei chuckled, surrounded by photos, one of the pink flower bouquets in a vase on his desk. "This work takes careful precision and thought, Mitsuko!" He argued, carefully pairing a photo of Okajima reading a dirty magazine along with Muramatsu secretly trying on a bra over his uniform.

Mitsuko blinked slowly and then tried to erase the photos from her head. "Whatever." She sighed and reached into her bag. "Here." She handed him the colourful scarf, causing him to look up. "I was working on this for a few days...I know it's out of season now but—"

"YOU GOT ME A GIFT!!" Koro-sensei cried with joy, causing Nagisa, Mimura, Sugino, and Okuda to look up in alarm.

Mitsuko scowled. "Hey! Calm down, weirdo!" She blushed. "It's just a scarf!!"

He cradled the material lovingly. "But it's made _with love_!"

"It's made out of _obligation,"_ she replied dryly. "It's just..." She scowled, looking away from him as he calmed down. "This year has been...tough." She grimaced. "And you helped a lot so...this is just a thank you gift. Don't make a big deal out of it, _just take it_."

Koro-sensei dried his tears with the scarf. "Well, thank you." He wrapped it around his neck. "Spring isn't here yet so it's still in season!"

She rolled her eyes, already regretting the gift. "Well, I'm glad you like it." She turned away and started to walk out. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to stop my brother and Karma being involved in a homicide."

Koro-sensei chuckled, tugging at the ends of his scarf. "Have a good sleepover!"

"Remember to livestream it!" Sugino joked from his desk.

Mitsuko smirked as she left the classroom, walking out of the Old Campus and down the hill to catch-up with Karma.

She saw him leisurely strolling down the path half-way down. "You could have waited!"

He smiled slyly at her from the corner of his eye. "I warned you I was going."

She sighed, walking alongside him. "You're such a jerk."

"Really?" He bared his teeth in a grin. "Because your mom thinks I'm quite charming."

"Yeah, well my mom is a terrible judge of character," Mitsuko replied flatly.

His smiled grew. "Probably but her cooking's good!"

She sighed in exasperation, hopping over a rock. "Please just try to cut back on the teasing with Gakushuu, okay?" She grimaced. "Last night was rough..."

Karma's smile faded, glancing at her, falling quiet for a moment. "Okay..." He shrugged, facing ahead. "Fair enough."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow at how quickly he'd accepted that. "Really?"

He shrugged. "It's not fun if he takes it too seriously."

"Gakushuu takes _everything_ too seriously."

"You know what I mean."

Her gaze grew curious at that but decided to let it rest. "Well, thanks."

Karma hummed, looking up at the sky briefly. "...Your dad's still free game though right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously."

A huge devious smile spread across his face again. "Good. Otherwise, it'd be boring."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling the only reason you want these sleepovers it to terrorise my dad?"

His smiled was wide and sadistic. "What are you trying today?"

She sighed deeply. "You're impossible..."

He smirked, ruffling her hair. "Well of course."

Mitsuko smiled slyly. "You do realise that when my parents get divorced you'll be free game for my dad."

Karma's eyes glinted dangerously. "Sounds fun."

"Yeah, I thought you might say that." Her fingers trailed down the braid Rio had done. "Last year he probably would have locked you in the closet or handcuffed you to a radiator if you did half the stuff you've done now."

"Uh..." His eyes widened. "Did he actually handcuff—?"

"He caught me smoking when I was eleven—So I got handcuffed to the radiator in his office while he worked. Made me eat the tobacco as well..." She wrinkled her nose when she remembered the bad taste. "It was only for five hours, so it could have been worse."

Honestly, the whole thing had been more _boring_ than actually horrendous, and she'd preferred it in comparison to being locked in a cramped closet. Having to eat the tobacco had been _horrible_ though and she'd been spitting it out hours after as it clung to her teeth and made her feel sick.

Karma blinked slowly and stared ahead in silence for a good fifteen seconds.

"Wow..." He stared at her for a long time, looking slightly horrified. "That's...why did he have handcuffs?"

"I never did find out." Mitsuko shrugged. "Honestly I have to sometimes pinch myself just make sure this isn't a dream," she said, sighing. "My dad actually made pancakes this morning, and they were _nice_. That's...that's kind of a big deal."

"Compared to _that_..." His smile was forced at the edges. " _Yeah_....big difference." His posture relaxed a little. "Think he'll make me pancakes?"

Mitsuko chuckled. "Yeah, if he puts arsenic in them."

He shrugged. "Fair."

They lapsed into a calm silence for a while until they made it to the end of the mountain where her brother was waiting.

"Finally." Gakushuu looked annoyed and scowled when Karma grinned at him.

"S'up, Asano!" Karma said brightly.

Her brother sighed loudly. "...Akabane." He adjusted his school bag. "Come on let's go..."

Mitsuko linked arms with him. "I'm going to start a knitting club in high school, I've already emailed the High School Council about it."

"A knitting club?" Her brother raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yep!" She grinned. "And guess who's gonna be my first member!"

Gakushuu groaned. "I don't even like knitting!"

"So? It's your brotherly duty to support me!" Mitsuko huffed, as they walked down the path.

Karma smirked. "Yeah! Where's the loyalty, Asano?!"

Her brother ran a hand down his face. "Shut up."

"Karma's joining," she told him slyly.

Gakushuu glared at her. "Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, real men knit, Asano." Karma stretched, putting his hands behind his neck as he walked alongside her. "Some of us aren't insecure about our masculinity."

"Fuck off," her brother swore, rolling his eyes.

Mitsuko nudged Karma who feigned innocence.

"So when's your dad getting home?" Karma asked lightly.

"He's staying late at the office," Gakushuu replied. "Apparently there are preparations for the graduation ceremony he needs to finalise."

Karma looked disappointed. "Aw..."

She laughed. "Aw, looks like you'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow at him. "You aren't seriously stupid enough to try to prank him again are you?"

Karma smirked. "Some things are worth the risk."

Her brother sighed loudly. "Fine. It's your death wish."

"Oh, well, I'll just have to get him when I can." The red-head grinned. "In the meantime, I brought my new One Piece game we can play."

"Oh." Mitsuko looked over curiously. "Fuwa has been nagging me to play."

Gakushuu frowned at Karma. "You actually play video games?"

"Uh, yeah, because I'm sixteen and know how to have fun." Karma raised an eyebrow. "Why, you wanna play?"

Her brother huffed. "Of course not."

* * *

"Hey, Gaku-nii stop hogging it!" Mitsuko tried to grab the console from her brother. "You've had it long enough."

Gakushuu frowned, sat on the sofa with the handheld console in his hands, playing the One Piece game Karma had brought over. "I've nearly finished the level!"

"It's been thirty minutes!" She complained, pushing his head away so she could grab the game. "It's not even yours!"

Her brother pushed her back. "Let me finish the level!"

Karma rolled his eyes from where he was texting on his phone. "The fact it's been thirty minutes and you're still on level 3 really is sad."

Gakushuu glared at him. "I'm just getting used to the controllers." He gave Mitsuko another push. "And I'm nearly finished."

She sighed in exasperation and collapsed on a cushion on the ground. "You're so annoying."

Her brother scowled but then soon went back to playing the game, scrutinising the small screen like it was a hard maths problem he needed to solve.

Karma seemed to just find it all funny and threw a cushion at her head. "Wo knew you'd both get so addicted."

"I'm not addicted!" Both Mitsuko and Gakushuu said at the same time.

This just made Karma laugh. "Yeah sure. Keep telling—"

He never got to finish his sentence, when a bright neo light blasted out from the window and filled the room with a suffocating glow.

Mitsuko flinched when the light hit her eyes, seeing spots appear in her vision after it vanished a few seconds later.

"What the hell?!" Gakushuu tossed the console to the sofa and rushed to the window.

Karma and Mitsuko hurried over as well, rubbing their eyes to try to see properly again.

When the spots in her vision started to clear, a deep-rooted dread she'd tried to ignore for months blossomed like a weed and spread to her lungs, making it hard to breath when she saw in the distance a glowing dome encase a spot on the hill where Kunugigaoka Junior High was.

Like a press of a button, the clock counting down to the end resumed ticking into the final hour. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> Oof. 
> 
> It's the final count down people. Only 5 chapters left until the end. 
> 
> Big thanks to the votes, views, and comments. it's definitely been a fun ride.


	77. Everyone needs a scapegoat

The second the light came down they all got a single text from Mr Karasuma with a clear message to stay home, but honestly, that was only half of the immediate problem she was going to have to deal with.

Gakushuu was silent for a very long time, staring at them in complete silence as they explained what was going on.

Mitsuko wrung her hands while she stood next to Karma in front of him. "So...yeah...me, Karma, and the rest of 3-E are kind of assassins."

Mom grimaced. "We wanted to tell you, sweetie..."

Her brother blinked once, then twice. The seconds stretched on.

Karma shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Which probably clears up any questions about the weird shit that's been happening."

Gakushuu opened his mouth and then closed it.

Mitsuko sighed. "Look, I wanted to tell you as soon as it happened but dad went all scary eyes on me and then there was the government..."

"You..." Her brother swallowed while they all waited for him to speak. "You...you all..." He pointed at Karma and Mitsuko. "You both...the whole of Class...has been training to be assassins by a mutated ex-assassin teacher who..." He took a deep breath. "Who is an octopus...?"

"Yes..." Mitsuko cringed. "Basically...yes."

Her brother turned to their mom. "And you knew...this whole time?"

"No!" Mom said quickly and then grimaced. "Well, actually, it's only been a few months—your father knew the whole time...obviously, but...well..."

"...I see..." Her brother replied in a very calm voice.

"Uh..." Mitsuko exchanged a look with Karma.

Gakushuu took a deep breath and stared at them in silence again for ten...then fifteen seconds, stretching onto twenty seconds, and then...

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?!" He thundered, nearly knocking them back by the sheer force of it.

* * *

Exactly thirty minutes later, Mitsuko was twiddling her thumbs as she sat at the dining table with Karma and her parents while Gakushuu paced back and forth in front of them.

"I can't believe this..." Her brother fumed, turning to them accusingly. "You all lied to me!"

Karma raised a hand and slowly started to stand. "Technically I'm not even a part of this family so—"

  
"Shut the fuck up!" Gakushuu swore, pointing at him. "And sit down!"

Karma's eyes widened and quickly sat down.

"Gakushuu..." Mom chided gently. "Don't be rude to—"

"It's his own fault for staying over!" her brother snapped, glaring at them. "You're all involved in this, so deal with it."

Mom exchanged a wary look with dad.

Mitsuko awkwardly cleared her throat. "Look, Gaku-nii, I'm sorry I lied—we all are!"

Gakushuu scoffed "Oh, _really_?" He looked at his parents and Karma. "Are you!?"

"Of course!" Mom said quickly.

Karma shrugged. "Not really."

"Karma!" Mitsuko kicked him.

"Hey! He's your brother not mine," Karma argued. "I don't care that I lied. It wasn't any of his business."

Dad sighed, looking calm. "You weren't informed, Gakushuu, because you didn't need to know."

"Dad!" Mitsuko felt like tearing her hair out. "Not helping!"

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, glowering at their father. "I needed to know because my little sister's safety was in jeopardy for _a year_!" He curled his hands into fists. "I _needed_ to know because I'm the only one in this family who actually gave a shit!"

Dad stiffened, growing silent. "Her and the rest of her classmates' safety was perfectly moni—"

 _"Sir."_ Her brother's voice was sharp. "Kindly be quiet before I lose control and beat the shit out of you _again."_

There was a pause.

Dad wisely grew quiet, his face scrunched up into a tight scowl.

Mom winced, shifting uncomfortably. "I...I wanted to tell you, sweetie." She fidgeted. "But you were so busy with school and you've been in a delicate mindset lately."

Karma raised an eyebrow like 'delicate mindset' and her brother seemed too opposite to be paired together in a sentence.

Gakushuu's mood darkened. " _Delicate...mindset_?"

Mom looked nervous. "Um..."

"You all lied to me like it was some sort of joke!" he snapped, then he pointed at Karma. "A joke even this little shit was a part of!"

"You know I don't live here right?" Karma raised an eyebrow. "Why do I have to get dragged into this?"

"Shut up!" Gakushuu snarled, looking like he'd burst a blood vessel.

Dad sighed deeply. "If you're going to blame anyone, son, then I'm the one who forced everyone to stay silent," he reasoned, frowning. "Now are you done yelling or would you actually like to talk?"

Her brother growled, turning away from them, his shoulders shaking. "I can't believe this..." His whole posture was tensed up. "What the hell is wrong with this family!?!" He kicked the wall hard, creating a crack in the wall. "You're all full of bullshit!"

The four of them stared at him like he was a bomb ready to explode.

Mitsuko grimaced, glancing at her parents who clearly had no idea what they were doing, and then at Karma who was staring at Gakushuu in alarm.

She sighed and stood up, walking over to him. "I'm sorry I lied." She hesitantly wrapped her arms around him while he stayed tense. "I wanted to tell you, but honestly I didn't even know where to start..." She rested her head on his back. "I'm sorry..."

Her brother shifted uneasily. "I...you could have died." His voice was quiet. "You could have _died._ "

"It honestly wasn't _that_ dangerous," she tried to argue but then received a glare from him. "Koro-sensei really takes his role as teacher seriously." She sighed again. "Look, you're completely justified to be angry and upset. What we did was wrong."

"...And shitty," he mumbled, looking over his shoulder as he turned around when she loosened her hold. "We're meant to trust each other. We weren't meant to keep secrets like this."

Mitsuko grimaced, growing more guilty. "I know..." She lowered her gaze. "This past year has been hard and there was a lot of stuff I was too scared to tell you about, stuff I didn't feel I could tell you about..."

His brow furrowed more, staying quiet for a moment. "I understand I didn't make things easy for you to feel comfortable enough to tell me," he admitted stiffly. "But you were in danger!" he stressed. "What if this second Reaper person or that crazy PE teacher had killed you?!"

She rubbed the back of her neck. "There were risks, I know that, but honestly our lives were only in danger at least 25% of the time!"

That didn't seem to reassure him. "Seriously?!"

Mitsuko cringed. "Okay...probably not the best percentage..." She looked at him apologetically. "Look, I know I should have been more honest, and it's okay if you don't trust me...I get that, I'll have to work to earn that back." She managed a smile. "But I really am sorry."

Her brother's eyes narrowed warily. "Then promise." He held her hand up, gripping it tight. "No more secrets."

She took a deep breath, remembering when they were younger and how much weight a promise would make. "I promise." She squeezed his hand tight to solidify it. "No more secrets."

He gave her a small smile. "Good."

"Uh..." Karma interrupted the mood by staring at them as if they'd just joined a cult. "Right so...is everything cool?"

Gakushuu glared at him. "No."

"Oh, sweetie!" Mom hurried to her feet, rushing over. "We're so sorry!" She pulled him into a hug with his sister. "I promise, no more lies or secrets."

Dad nodded, walking over to pat Gakushuu on the head. "Yes, no more secrets, son."

Her brother's chin rested on mom's shoulder while he glared at their dad. "I find that somewhat hard to believe considering 75% of everything you say is bullshit."

"Gakushuu..." Mom chided, sighing. "I know you're upset but please stop cursing." She pinched his cheek. "It's a bad habit to get into."

Mitsuko snorted when her brother just glared at their mom.

Gakushuu grimaced, quickly pulling away from their parents. "I'll improve my manners once I know for certain you aren't all going to lie to me like I'm an idiot."

"I promise, no more lying," Mom said quickly, looking nervous. "And we know you're not an idiot, sweetie. You're brilliant."

Her brother looked like he was trying very hard not to roll his eyes. "So what happens now?" He looked at Mitsuko.

She shared an unsure look with Karma. "Well, Mr Karasuma told us all to stay at home..."

"Yes, the government will be deploying their final plan then." Dad looked irritated. "They really must be desperate." He grimaced. "It's quite rash but it does make sense considering they have less than two weeks left to kill him." He sighed. "Even with his chance of exploding at 0.1 percent it would be foolish to think they'll hold off killing him, he's too much of a threat."

Mitsuko started to feel sick, her shoulder hunching. "...Still, though, an attack this loud, the backlash will be bad."

Gakushuu glanced at their dad grimly. "And considering your track record I wouldn't hold out much hope."

She sighed. "True, they're going to drag you, dad."

Karma shrugged. "I mean, you kind of deserve it—ow!" He winced when Mitsuko kicked him.

Dad smiled thinly. "Yes, things will certainly get messy." He hummed, the telltale signs of worry only just visible above the surface. "But we'll see how it plays out." He looked back at Mitsuko and Karma. "In the meantime, you two will abide by government orders and stay out of this."

_Pfft, like that's happening._

Mitsuko crossed her arms and exchanged an annoyed glance with Karma.

"Exactly." Mom stepped in, staring at the two of them sternly. "You both are going to stay out of this and let the government do their job." She frowned at Karma. "Karma, you may not live here but you'll listen and not get involved either, otherwise I'll have to call your parents."

Karma scowled. "Like they'll care..."

Mom folded her arms. "Whether they care or not, you'll listen and not get involved, otherwise I can't say you'll be welcomed in our home any longer."

The red-head stiffened at that, his scowl deepening. "...Fine."

"Good." Mom turned to her. "Mitsuko?"

She sighed in irritation. "Yes. Fine. I won't interfere."

Her parents and Gakushuu all shot her sceptical looks.

Mitsuko scowled. "What? I'm serious!"

* * *

"So technically it's not interfering if we don't enter the building?" Karma passed her binoculars as they watched from the roof of a shop that overlooked the perimeter of guards surrounding their school where a giant orange dome was covering it.

Mitsuko chewed on a protein bar. "Technically yeah."

"How long until your mom realizes we aren't in your bedroom?" Karma asked.

She quickly checked her watch. "About another thirty-minutes since it's nearly lunch." She frowned. "Gakushuu will be back from visiting Ren and the others soon, so he'll be the first to notice."

"Why is he visiting them anyway?"

"Uh, because A-Class are freaking out," Mitsuko replied dryly, staring at the school where a full barricade surrounded it. "After this morning's announcement they've been messaging me on social media trying to find out what's going on, and some of them were trying to head to the school." She sighed. "So he and Ren had to go and help Araki, Kondo, Tanaka, and Seo because they got stuck trying to climb a fence. and got stuck"

Karma looked like he might laugh. "Oh."

"Yeah, so he's busy doing that." Mitsuko let out another sigh. "And dad's gonna be way to busy dealing with the press to even notice we've gone."

The media was going to drag him through hell, and a small resentful and sadistic part of her found that amusing as well as satisfying.

"Hey, guys!" Ritsu said from Karma's phone in his pocket. "The others are on their way!"

She swallowed the bar and turned the binoculars down at the street. "I see them!" She put the equipment in her pocket. "Come on let's go meet them."

The two of them hurried down onto the street to meet the rest of their classmates who were getting too close to the armed guards.

"We want to go inside!" Hara yelled, trying to push through. "Let us see Koro-sensei!"

Mitsuko's eyes widened in horror, standing further back with Karma when their classmates kept trying to push into the soldiers. "What are they doing?!"

Karma grimaced. "Grief makes people stupid." He grabbed her arm. "Come on."

The soldiers started to push back more, already restraining Mimura.

"Get off them!" Sugaya tried to step in and free Mimura and Yoshida.

Mitsuko felt a wave of worry, trying to drag him back by his arm. "Sugaya, no!" She winced when a guard grabbed her arm. "Ugh! Get off!"

"HEY!" Rio rushed forward and tried to pull her away. "Leave her alone!"

"Everyone get back!" One of the soldiers with a long face barked the order at them. "This is a restricted area!"

Mitsuko winced when the soldier yanked her hair and tried to but her hands behind her back.

"Stand down!" Karasuma yelled, coming forward. "Get your hands off those students!"

Mitsuko jerked back when the soldier let go and nearly toppled into Rio when the girl caught her. 

"You okay?" Rio wrapped her arms around her.

She nodded quickly and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Sir!" Nagisa was standing with Kayano and the others.

"What the hell is that!" Isogai pointed at the dome.

"No one told us about it!" Kurahashi shouted.

"And that announcement." Kanzaki cringed. "It made it sound like everything was Koro-sensei's fault."

_Everyone needs a scapegoat._

Mitsuko shifted uncomfortably.

Karasuma's shoulders were stiff. "I wasn't told about it until the last minute," he told them in a clipped tone. "If we'd known about this earlier, Koro-sensei might have caught onto the plan. That's probably why we were kept in the dark—to avoid leaking information." He didn't sound like he believed that.

Her eyes narrowed. "More like they didn't trust us."

"Can't blame them," Karma commented quietly while Karasuma was speaking. "We got attached to our target." His smile was bitter. "We're just little kids to them."

Mitsuko scowled. "True..."

We ran out of time...

"...I need you to all keep your stories straight," Karasuma told them sternly.

Mitsuko sighed, already feeling exhausted at the thought of having to spin this story and lie; Gakushuu was always better at dealing with these kinds of things, it was why she'd always hid behind him and let him do the talking.

"Not acceptable!" Kataoka said firmly. "We have to see Koro-sensei."

Mitsuko clenched her hands tight when she looked up at the mountain, feeling her chest tighten at the thought of Koro-sensei being up there all alone and waiting for death to hit.

That wasn't the type of death he'd trained them to deliver; he deserved better!

"Exactly." Mitsuko glared at Karasuma. "Sir, please, you have to give us a chance to say goodbye."

"No." Mr Karasuma's stared at them sharply. "Things will only get worse if he holds you hostage."

Mitsuko bristled. "Hostage?!"

"Take us hostage?!" Okano spluttered. "Koro-sensei would never—"

"There they are!!"

There was a stampede of footsteps and flashed of cameras, nearly making them all jerk back in alarm when a barrel of press and photographers appeared heading towards them like bulls.

Mitsuko stepped back in shock. "Oh, shit!"

"Hey! Look over here!!" There were more blinding flashes as microphones were shoved in their faces.

"Fuck." Rio hastily shoved her behind her. "What the hell?

"What was it like having the monster force you to play assassin?!" One reporter practically screamed at them.

"Hey, back off!" Yoshida tried to shove them away.

Rio shoved another solder when he got to close and tried to grab them. "Fuck off, asshole!"

Mitsuko stepped back as everything started to turn more hectic with Tersaka and the others shoving against the soldiers as the reporters closed in and Yada and Kurahashi trying and failing to say that Koro-sensei was a good teacher.

"Come on everyone!" Isogai yelled, waving his arm. "Let's go home for now!!"

The others looked over, growing more claustrophobic like they were being caged in.

"The security forces and media are in a frenzy here!" Isogai told them as they started to retreat. "It doesn't matter what we say—they won't listen to us!"

"No shit." Mitsuko grabbed Rio's arm to pull her back. "Come on!"

They all ran for it, running away from the media and security forces as fast as they could.

* * *

None of them went home, opting to do recon to figure out just what was going on.

Mitsuko grimaced when she turned her phone on and saw fifty missed calls from her brother, 35 missed calls from her mom, 10 voicemails from her dad and too many texts than she wanted to count.

"They're going to kill me..."

"Duh." Karma frowned at his phone. "Even your dad is trying to call me." He scowled. "Why does he even have my number?!"

Mitsuko sighed, turning her phone off again as they walked to the parking lot where the others were. "Gaku-nii is gonna be pissed."

"Yeah, probably." Karma's frown deepened. "Do you think your mom was serious about banning me...?

She rolled her eyes and came to a stop when they reached the others. "Everyone here?"

"Yes." Takebayashi adjusted his glasses as the rest of the class were gathered around. "We were discussing the perimeter." He held up an iPad. "Onlookers, media, terrorists...they clearly want to stop any outsider from communicating with Koro-sensei..."

Ritsu made a sad noise from Fuwa's phone. "I miss my unit! It's like losing a home!"

Mitsuko smiled sympathetically, moving close. "Don't worry, there's still the internet."

Fuwa smiled warmly. "Yeah, if you can find a home there it'll be like upgrading to a mansion."

Ritsu frowned, drying her tears. "True...I guess this is more of a push to move since I can't stay in my unit forever."

"...By tomorrow, no one will be able to permeate the barrier," Takebayashi finished explaining.

"Then we'll have to force our way through." Karma looked serious. "Tonight then..."

Mitsuko stared at him in alarm. "Do you have a death wish? We can't just force our way through without a plan."

He raised an eyebrow. "Who says I don't have a plan?"

"I agree with, Karma," Isogai said, smiling.

Mitsuko sighed. "Of course you do." She looked at her friends impatiently. "Look, I want to see Koro-sensei just as much as the rest of you, but there are still too many blind spots we haven't even considered." She frowned. "Karma and I checked ground level near the main campus building and there were definitely some guys not in military uniform wandering—"

Before she could finish, in a lightning flash two large black cars swept in and surrounded them.

_What the—?_

Her stomach flipped when shadows surrounded them like a gush of wind and grabbed them.

She only had to blink before everything turned dark and her hand were forcefully tied behind her back as she was thrown roughly into the car with her classmates piled in like a landfill of bodies


	78. I know this is important

Mitsuko winced when she was shoved on onto the tiled floor when the blindfold was ripped off.

She blearily opened her eyes and forced herself onto her knees as she looked around, her classmates were all with her and they were surrounded by a group of weird-looking men who looked straight out of a strange neo-apocalypse parody.

"Who are the Akira rejects?" Mitsuko muttered.

Fuwa looked up brightly. "You actually watched the movie!"

"Shut up!" A man with an eyepatch shoved their shoulders hard.

Mitsuko glared up at him. _Well, fuck you too!_

Karma looked just a little wary when he looked up at the man, seeming to recognise them.

Her brow furrowed, looking over at the tall and most intimidating one of their kidnappers who had a scar on the left-hand side of his face, he was a tall man in a black overcoat who had long black hair that was slicked back.

She tensed, narrowing her eyes at him the longer his smile stayed in place.

"Where are we? Kanzaki looked around quickly. 

A man in a suit, wearing glasses and a bad haircut, stepped forward and smiled down at them smugly. "HQ of this operation," he told them. "We've commandeered a facility belonging to the Ministry of Defence." His smile was a mimic of pleasantness. "You'll be kept in protective custody until the assassination is completed."

Her eyes widened, nearly choking. "W-what?"

"Oh, shit," Sugaya swore from behind her.

The nameless man in the suit kept talking, growing, even more, smugger to the point Mitsuko wanted to punch him in the face.

"You've gotta be kidding?!" Terasaka yelled.

"T-That's fine by us!" Hara looked panicked. "Just hold off killing Koro-sensei!" she yelled at the adults who stared back at her like she was a hysterical child. "There's no reason to kill him!" Hara tried to reason, causing Mitsuko to cringe. "The chance of him exploding is less than one per cent, you know!"

Mitsuko stomach twisted when the adults remained unfazed like Hara was just repeating the same facts they'd already memorised, which most likely was the case. She cringed more when the nameless man in the suit's smile grew as he adjusted his glasses.

"You children may find it hard to grasp," his tone grew condescending. "But whether the chance is 1 or 100 per cent, the public still wants him dead."

Mitsuko hunched her shoulders in more as the man continued to patronise but otherwise also state the facts of the situation.

"We should have seen this coming," she whispered.

Fuwa grimaced when she heard her. "Yeah, we should have..." Her face grew oddly serious. "The government hasn't exactly cared that much about us, and Koro-sensei is way too OP for them to not see him as a threat, but still..." She glared at the man who kept talking. "They don't have to be such jerks about it."

Mitsuko nodded, glancing at the rest of her classmates who was growing angry as well, especially Terasaka who had started to shake.

"...The target was a bloodthirsty assassin in his previous life," the man continued, causing her thoughts to slip back to what Koro-sensei had said on the roof at Christmas. "You need to think of how his victims felt."

"Is this dude seriously using that angle?" Rio whispered angrily. "These assholes probably hired the Reaper for jobs in the past."

Mitsuko gritted her teeth. "Wouldn't be a surprise."

"In other words." The man sighed loudly. "He deserves his death."

Mitsuko's skin prickled with rage at the sheer audacity—

"SHUT UP!!" Terasaka lunged forward before they even noticed him move, and kicked the man in the face.

"Oh." 3-E all stared in shock.

The man spluttered as blood spurted out of his nose and he was knocked back against the wall.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO IMPOSE YOUR VALUE JUDGMENT ON THE OCTOPUS!!" Terasaka screamed at the man while he guy with the eyepatch held him back.

Mitsuko gawked. "Well, shit..."

"He's using big words too." Karma's brow rose.

"WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY?!!" Terasaka ranted while the man stared at him in shock. "NOTHING BUT A NAMELESS CHARACTER!!"

"Wow." Fuwa's face twitched between a smile and worry for the taller boy's safety "Talk about a call out!"

"How dare you!!" The nameless man shouted, fixing his glasses. "My name is—"

Then the man with a scar stepped in front of him and smiled at them coldly, causing each one of them to tense up. "It seems you have been completely brainwashed by the monster." His voice was cold and sounded foreign, sending a chill down their spines. "Take them away!"

Mitsuko glared up at him while some of her classmates objected a little when they were manhandled by the group of men and taken away.

* * *

The room they had been trapped in was bland and terrible just like the clothes they'd been forced to wear. And, while she knew there were more important things at play, the clothes themselves were ugly and she was at least thankful she wouldn't be seen in public in them!

The only other colour was the vending machine and the images coming from the widescreen TV which hung from the wall in the lounge area where they all ate; and to top it off, the food was terrible!

When Karasuma finally was allowed to visit them the confrontation wasn't as heart-warming as anticipated.

He'd slammed Nagisa onto the floor and then yelled at him to not give him any trouble. Which as melodramatic as things could go, did offer a double-meaning when Nagisa explained.

"...He also told us," Nagisa explained to them while he was still sat on the floor and the security guards and Mr Karasuma were gone. "The intensity of the security will drop off after five days, that a small unit of elite soldiers is embedded on the mountain, and their leader is free times as strong as Mr Karasuma."

Mitsuko's eyes widened when she realised. "Shit..." That was the main foundations of a plan he'd practically handed to them.

Nagisa recounted what Mr Karasuma had told him a few days prior. "...So I bet 'don't give me any trouble' means, 'I trust your judgment and I'll let you take care of this.'" He stood up and addressed them all. "He's saying, 'I'm in a different position from you, but I'll give you as much information as I can. The rest is up to you, and I'll respect your decision.'"

"Damn..." Muramatsu looked overwhelmed. "He really trusts us that much?"

Nagisa smiled. "So let's organise our thoughts and think this through," he said as they all listened. "What we want to do? What we can do? And what would Koro-sensei want us to do?"

Mitsuko started to smile. "He'd want to see us one last time."

Rio nodded, smiling. "And see just how much we've learned."

"Damn right!" Terasaka smashed his fist against the wall. "There's no way in hell we're just gonna sit here like wimps!" He scowled. "Who the hell do they think they are?"

"Uh, the government and a bunch of high profile mercenaries?" Hazama commented.

"Whatever." Terasaka huffed. "Nagisa's right, we gotta think about this and figure out what to do."

Takebayashi nodded. "Let's start planning."

"But won't the guards be suspicious?" Kimura pointed out, looking up at the camera warily.

"They don't want us to escape, but they never said we couldn't still plan assassinations," Mitsuko said, frowning. "Besides, you heard that asshole, they just think we're a bunch of stupid kids."

Karma nodded. "So long as they feel confident that we can't escape, they won't care if we talk about assassination strategies, especially since it's what we've been doing all year."

Nagisa nodded. "They'll underestimate us just like the Principal and the Main Campus did."

Rio grinned. "And look how that turned out."

"We need to be patient," Kayano said, smiling. "Be alert and be on guard."

"Right!" Yoshida smirked. "Let's do this!"

* * *

There was one tiny benefit of being trapped together in one place as a class.

Mitsuko snuggled closer to Rio in her bed while the rest of the girls were drifting off to sleep.

"My mom and dad would go crazy if they saw us like this," Mitsuko whispered excitedly, blushing when Rio kissed her forehead.

Rio grinned. "Yeah, pretty sure your dad actually would kill me."

She giggled softly and closed her eyes, feeling warm and safe in her girlfriend's arms. "You'd think the security guards would have caught on by now."

Rio snorted. "I'm pretty sure those idiots think girls can't be lesbians until they hit eighteen."

"True." Mitsuko smiled, relaxing when Rio gently ran fingers through her hair. "I hope Gakushuu is okay, though..." She sighed. "This is the longest we've been separated..."

"...Really?"

"Yeah." She replied, feeling her chest tighten. "Even at sleepovers or trips, we'd always call each other or text...he must be losing his mind right now."

Rio hummed, shifting around as she held her close. "He'll be okay. Plus we're not going to be in here forever."

"I know but we were starting to make some progress with him not being so..." She tried to find a nice way of saying it. "... _Overprotective._ " That probably wasn't right but saying he was clingy felt like a betrayal. "I'm just worried this will set us back..."

"It might not be that bad." Rio didn't sound convinced. "Gakushuu is a rational guy...I'm sure he's coping okay."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow at her. "You really believe that?"

"Uh." Rio gave a weak laugh. "Okay, so he might be having a meltdown, but what's the worst he can do?"

Mitsuko frowned, thinking of a great many things her brother was capable of when given the right incentive.

But, there wasn't much she could do considering they were all locked in here while he was out there.

"Anyway, let's just focus on the plan, okay?" Rio whispered. "Karma told me he's gonna ask Isogai's permission to take the lead with this one so he'll need all our support."

Mitsuko nodded, kissing her softly as she closed her eyes. "Okay."

Karma's type of leadership was more ruthless than Isogai's, but considering how high the stakes were, that was what they needed right now.

* * *

"Oh, man..." Maehara slumped on the sofa in front of the assassination plans on the table. "I really wish Ritsu was here..."

"No, shit, she'd have at least a hundred possible scenarios already drafted by now," Okajima said, sighing. "Plus she has an awesome playlist to make it more fun."

Fuwa sobbed silently. "Don't say that! It's been so long since I've heard an anime opening—I might go crazy!"

Sugaya raised an eyebrow. "Uh, haven't we only been in here for a few days?"

Fuwa sobbed harder. "EXACTLY!!"

Mitsuko sighed, adding more details to the timetables they'd drafted. "Guys, focus, please..." She looked over them. "If you need a break from the technical stuff then go train with Hayami and the others—"

They all froze when the lock on the large metal door clicked.

Takebayashi and Okano swooped the plans into a neat pile and partly of view while the others stood up and watched two guards enter.

The guard looked around at them like he was searching for someone. "Which one of you girls is Asano Mitsuko again?"

Mitsuko's eyes widened in surprise as Sugaya and Isogai quickly stepped in front of her to block her from view.

Rio crossed her arms and glared at them. "Who's asking?"

"Yeah, what do you want?!" Hara snapped. 

The guard looked irritated. "She has a visitor."

"Visitor?" Isogai looked confused.

Mitsuko tensed. "Uh..." She looked around warily while the others looked worried. "That's me..." She raised a hand and stepped forward. "I'm Mitsuko."

"Then hurry up and come on!" The guard was already turning away.

She started to feel hope blossom in her chest. "So it's either my dad or...?"

"Only one way to find out." Karma nudged her forward.

Mitsuko glanced at him before nodding and following the guard out of the door.

Two other guards came over and promptly started to search her, causing her to glare when they flashed a flashlight in her face so they could see if she was hiding anything in her mouth. "Hey!"

"She's clean," The guard said, pushing her forward.

Mitsuko scowled and following one of the guards down the bland hallway and passed some doors to different rooms. She scrutinised the corners for the different cameras, trying to remember each detail for later.

The guard stopped outside the door and unlocked it. "You have ten minutes."

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow and was then promptly shoved into the room before it closed behind her.

"Careful!" She complained when she nearly tripped over, but her anger quickly faded when she was her dad sat in a chair by a table. "Dad!"

She grinned and rushed over to him, tackling him into a hug when he stood up.

His arms wrapped around her tight. "Why do you find it so hard to do as your told?" He sighed deeply, cupping her face to lift her gaze to his. "And just what were your classmates thinking ?"

Mitsuko smiled sheepishly, staring up at him warmly. "We might have been a little reckless." Her smile grew when his eyes narrowed. "But you can't say we didn't show initiative."

Her dad sighed again, sounding exasperated. "Why are you like this....?"

"Well..." She grinned. "I had questionable parenting."

He rested a hand on the top of her head. "Well, your brother and mother have been worried."

Her smile faded. "Is Gakushuu okay?"

Dad hesitated. "He's....coping better than expected."

Her stomach plummeted. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine." Dad quickly added, smiling reassuringly. "He's just been spending a lot of time in his room..." He frowned at her. "Why don't we sit down? I can't stay for long."

"I know..." She moved over to the spare chair by the table and sat down. "I'm surprised they even let you in...Karasuma was the only one allowed to visit us and even that was barely five minutes."

"Yes, well I still have some leeway with the Government," dad replied, sitting down opposite. "Though they have been less generous since the secret has been exposed." He smiled coldly. "Which I did anticipate once I realised they were planning something big, so I made sure to acquire some... _.information_ , just to make sure they didn't forget our friendship."

She snorted, crossing her arms. "So...blackmail or quid pro quo?"

Her dad's smile grew. "A little bit of both." He clasped his hands on the table. "Unfortunately there's nothing I can do to get you out of here without their permission," he said pointedly. "But I did manage to convince the officials to allow you some more reading material to stay entertained," he informed her. "They're currently reviewing the books to make sure there's no dishonestly being played here, but you'll get them soon enough." He shrugged. "It's not much but I did speak to Mr Karasuma and there isn't much the two of us can do without breaking the law." He sighed. "And I have been quite busy dealing with the press..."

"I can imagine..." She eyed him suspiciously, trying to find the double meaning in his words. "So I guess we're stuck here until Koro-sensei is dead."

"It seems that way." He smiled pleasantly. "So do try to patient."

Mitsuko hummed. "Okay..." She glanced at the clock, they only had five minutes left. "It's not like there's any way to reach Koro-sensei..." She sighed loudly. "The government has a mercenary team call the Wolf Pack as a defence."

"Yes, I heard," dad replied. "I had a chat with their leader to assist him on the perimeter of the school grounds so he won't interfere with the graduation ceremony preparations which are underway."

She raised an eyebrow. "You seriously asked a group of mercenaries to not interfere with ceremony preparations?"

Dad scowled. "It's still _my_ school property." His gaze grew cold. "I won't have them ruin the flower display with their rampaging."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. "Right..."

"Anyway, their leader really is quite something." Dad hummed. "And peculiar looking for an assassin, I'll admit, behind those glasses is something dangerous." He smiled thinly. "You children were very fortunate that he treated you gently."

"Not sure ' _gently'_ is the right word," she replied warily while thinking about what he said and how it matched up with Mr Karasuma's earlier warnings. "But you're right, when it comes to skill and strength, he'd crush us easily; we're no match."

"Precisely." Dad's smile almost looked proud. "As usual the odds are stacked against you, and you would do well to remember your place in the grand scheme of things."

That was the closest thing she'd get to a blessing he could give her right now, she tried to keep her smile from growing too wide.

"As you've always reminded me." She looked up at the clock again and sighed. "We haven't got long left...." She sighed. "Please make sure Gakushuu is okay. This is the longest we haven't heard from each other."

"I know." His brow furrowed. "I had hoped for a longer visit..." His expression twitched between passiveness and genuine warmth. "But just be patient."

Her smile returned. "Thanks, dad." She stood up and embraced him again. "I love you." Her voice was mumbled and hesitant as a tight feeling grew in her stomach. "Tell mom and Gaku-nii that as well, please."

His hand rested on her head again. "I will..." He cleared his throat. "And...I love you too." He kissed the top of her head. "Very much..."

* * *

"Uh, aren't these books for Primary School kids?" Kimura said, looking at the five books which had been dumped on the Coffee table by the guards after being processed.

Maehara picked up one of the books. "Uh, yeah this is a colouring book..." He blushed. "What is your dad trying to say?!"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "Well, he does have some sort a sense of humour, I think." She kneeled down and looked at each of the books. "But look, this one is a book on English Spelling, so they're educational."

"Yeah, and patronising," Terasaka grumbled, picking up a book on Chinese games for children. "Is there meant to be some hidden message here?!" He tossed it on the floor and crossed his arms. "Or are we just wasting time?"

Mitsuko frowned, looking at the books. "I'm not sure."

"Well, let's just try to focus on our own plans for now," Kataoka whispered, glancing at the cameras. "Mitsuko, did you get a good look at the hallway?"

She nodded, standing up. "I'll help draft blueprints."

"Thanks," Isogai smiled gratefully.

The others started to move the books to the side and get back to drawing out different plans.

Mitsuko looked through the books again, picking up the one Terasaka had tossed on the floor.

When she opened it up and flipped through the entire thing was written in Mandarin characters and was about simple traditional Chinese children games; she paused on the Rock, Paper, Scissors game.

* * *

"You want some advice?" Mitsuko sat down next to Karma on the sofa in the lounge. It was almost midnight and the others had already gone to bed, gathering their strength for a final chance to do plans tomorrow.

Karma glanced up from where he'd been staring intensely at the table, deep in thought; something that reminded her of Gakushuu. "I'm open to suggestions."

She tossed the book on Chinese Games on the table with the others. "My dad met Hojo."

He raised an eyebrow, leaning back on the sofa. "Did he?"

"Yeah, and what he said made me curious about something," she said, looking over the TV which was muted but still displaying the 24hr News. "You ever wondered why paper beats rock?"

Karma now looked confused. "...What?"

Mitsuko smiled crookedly. "The game dates back to the Chinese Han dynasty, under different names, but the concept is pretty much the same." She glanced at the book. "My dad's been pushing us to learn Mandarin so he got us to study the culture and history—and the Rock, Paper, Scissors game is interesting."

"Okay...." Karma looked intrigued now. "So why does paper beat rock?"

"Because it renders it useless—theoretically anyway," she explained. "A common misconception is that it's linked to an emperor making decisions using a rock, but it's actually simpler. The paper or cloth, covers the rock and makes it invisible, which is what makes it useless—sound familiar?"

"Huh." Karma's eyes widened slightly. "So we make his bloodlust invisible. Keep it contained."

She nodded. "Everyone has a trigger, something that mentally prepares them for killing—ours is a word and his is..."

"His glasses," Karma caught on, smiling slyly.

She grinned and covered her fist with an open palm. "Paper covers rock."

* * *

Mitsuko would admit, a kiss from Bitch-sensei was...definitely a game changer; no wonder Nagisa learned so much.

He sneaking the explosives in their mouths was also an added bonus.

The wall of the facility blew off when Takebayashi set off the trigger, marking their way to freedom a the crescent moon shined down on them.

"Wow, this map was spot on" Yada exclaimed as they rushed outside.

Mitsuko smiled, taking a deep breath fresh air. "Guess we made the right call hooking them up!"

"What took you brats so long?" Bitch-sensei was leaning against the wall outside. "I gave you a map f the perfect escape route."

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, picking up the shoes which had been neatly left on the lawn in front. "We still had to avoid the cameras and short-fuse the alarms!"

"Which wasn't that hard," Itona commented, slipping his shoes on. "The government cut corners on upgrading their alarm system."

Yada looked overwhelmed. "Miss Bitch, this was..."

"Mr Karauma asked me to do it." Bitch-sensei smirked, watching them gather all their shoes. "It took longer than I thought, though. I had to—"

_"Finally!"_

Mitsuko froze when a familiar bossy voice interrupted Bitch-sensei mid-explanation.

When she turned around she gawked like the rest of her classmates when they saw Gakushuu marked over carrying a heavy duffel bag over his shoulder. He looked like he hadn't had much sleep and he was wearing jeans and a hoodie, his normally clean trainers covered in some dirt.

"Gaku-nii?!!" Mitsuko spluttered.

"ASANO?!" The rest of E Class looked alarmed.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Maehara exclaimed.

Gakushuu shot them irritated looks and threw the bag on the grass. "What does it look like, you idiots?" Then he looked over at Mitsuko, his face breaking out in relief. "Mitsuko."

She rubbed her eyes. "Gakushuu, what are you—?"

Her brother grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, knocking the wind out of her. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" her brother held her tighter. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Mitsuko struggled to breathe, patting him on the back. "I-I know! I'm sorry!"

Bitch-sensei huffed. "He wouldn't leave me alone—even after I tried to shoot him."

Gakushuu released Mitsuko and glared at the teacher. "I was worried about my sister."

Their teacher rolled her eyes. "I already told you the grown-ups had it handled, kid."

"Wait, you helped Bitch-sensei?" Nagisa questioned, staring at her brother in disbelief.

Gakushuu looked annoyed. "Obviously." He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. "I hooked Ritsu up to the wiring of the building and had her disable the outside cameras."

"Hi, Guys!!" Ritsu's smiling face appeared on her brother's phone. "I've missed you all so much!"

Her classmates were blatantly gaping right now like this was a weird dream.

"You and Ritsu worked together?" Mitsuko said, looking at Ritsu and then her brother.

"I hacked into your laptop and talked to her," Gakushuu replied, and then frowned. "Well, _after_ she'd finished crying..."

"I WAS EMOTIONAL!" Ritsu yelled defensively. "All my friends had been captured!!"

Her brother sighed, rolling his eyes. "Well after that, she told me where to find Ms Jelavic."

Bitch-sensei scowled. "And like I said, he wouldn't leave me alone, even after I tried to shoot him, so I decided to let him help."

Gakushuu gestured to the duffel bag. "All your equipment and combat uniforms are in there."

"Wait, how did you get them?!" Sugaya questioned.

Her brother gave them a condescending look. "Most of you hid your weapons _under your mattresses_ —frankly I'm insulted you made it so easy."

A majority of the class blushed.

"So, what, you broke into all our houses?" Okano asked in alarm.

"Don't be ridiculous," Gakushuu scoffed. They sighed in relief. "I had the _other_ students do that for me."

"WHAT?!"

"I can't name them for legal purposes, but they weren't seen," he explained.

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow. "So, I take it the other Big five weren't included."

Her brother scoffed. "I spent half a day helping free them from a fence—I wouldn't trust them to buy groceries at this rate." He crossed his arms. "I recruited more experienced help."

Mitsuko grinned, hugging him. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, thanks, Asano," Yada said in appreciation.

The rest of 3-E seemed to get over the shock and started to smile as well.

"Thanks!" Maehara patted him on the back. "We appreciate it, dude."

"Yeah!" Teasaka grinned, putting Gakushuu in a headlock. "Guess you're not so bad!"

Gakushuu choked, trying to hit him. "Get off me!!!"

Mitsuko laughed while the others searched through the bag to get their combat gear.

The uniforms had been neatly folded and slipped into transparent plastic bags that were labelled with each student's name.

"Yeah, thanks, Asano." Nagisa smiled, but then frowned when he couldn't find is uniform in the bag. "Uh...Asano, where's my stuff?"

Gakushuu elbowed Terasaka in the ribs so the boy would finally let go. "Oh, yours wasn't collected." He smoothed down the creases in his hoodie. "I wasn't going to risk anyone setting foot in your apartment considering how crazy your mother is."

Nagisa's eye twitched in annoyance. "Really?!"

Her brother shrugged. "It was a genuine health and safety hazard."

Nagisa sighed, narrowing his eyes. "Guess I'll need to go home then..."

"There's still a few supplies we'll need," Itona said, slipping his vest on. "But this means only half of us will need to go home to get the rest of the stuff."

"Everyone who needs to go home, go home and then meet back within the hour." Karma nodded. "Let's stick to the main plan and get into position."

Bitch-sensei smiled. "The main laser will be fired right before midnight," she told them, causing them to look up at the sky. "I don't know what will come of this, but whatever happens tomorrow is still your graduation day." The look in her eyes was fond. "This is your last class, go and enjoy it."

The class started to smile, even if some of their nerves were starting to show. "Yeah!"

"All, right!" Okajima grinned. "Let's get the plan in action."

"It won't take long for them to realize we've escaped!" Rio said. "We have to make our move before they lock down the mountain!"

Mitsuko watched as her classmates started to move out. "Right!" She smiled and then turned to her brother. "Gakushuu, I need to go." Her smile wavered when she saw him frown. "I promise it won't be dangerous."

Her brother raised an eyebrow. "You'll be facing off against the government and a team of mercenaries," he said dryly. "How is _that_ not dangerous?"

Her smile grew sheepish. "Uh..."

"Looking after you is exhausting..." His frown grew. "I know this is important...even though it's completely insane." He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "I may not fully understand, but this obviously means a lot to you so go and do what you've been training to do so we can actually graduate without a giant forcefield ruining the photos."

Her heart felt like it would explode from happiness.

"Thank you!" Mitsuko grinned and embraced him one last time. "Tell mom I'll be okay."

Her brother scoffed. "She's already been hysterical since you disappeared—If I tell her what you're doing she'll have a stroke." He held onto her a little longer. "Be careful..."

"I promise." She sighed and let him go, moving back to join her friends who were waiting for her. "Wish us luck!"

Kataoka grinned and waved. "Miss Bitch!" She yelled, gaining the teacher's attention. "You and Mr Karasuma have to come! You're both important teachers to us too!"

Mitsuko smiled when she saw the shocked look on the teacher's face. "Yeah, you're not just an assassin, remember?!"

A faint blush overtook Bitch-sensei's face. "...If you say so."

Gakushuu looked annoyed as they ran further away and broke into a parkour run. "DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!!"  
  



	79. You've learned so much

They had three hours until the weapon powered up again.

Mitsuko clung to the tree, looking down at the forest ground below. Their gear hid them among the trees as they were spread out in different positions.

Okano grinned, standing next to her and Kataoka. “You ready, Mitsuko?” She asked. “I haven’t had the chance to kick anyone in over a week.”

Mitsuko chuckled, clicked her tazer. “I am looking forward to the exercise.”

“Mitsuko,” Karma’s voice pinged in her ear. “Five targets up ahead South East, lure them towards you so they don’t run into Yada’s group.”

“Roger that.” Mitsuko looked over her shoulder. “Wish me luck.”

Kataoka smiled, holding up the large weight. “We’ll be waiting.”

Mitsuko jumped down from the tree and onto the ground, racing towards the targets while Okano and Kataoka stayed in position.

She dived in-between the trees as she got closer to the enemy, hearing their footsteps grow louder when their feet crunched on the grass twigs.

It was like Karma had said, this was their playing field, they just needed to set the rules and act quickly while the enemies guard was lowered.

She looked behind the tree and scrutinised the five of them, four of them were in full black camouflage gear, but one of them who’s she’d seen with Hojou was wearing jewellery and beanie har with his dark clothes.

The guy with the hat was the first to notice the movement in the shadows, stopping the others.

“Hey!” They’d already reached for their guns

Her grin grew, as she ran for it.

_Now just don’t get shot._

They chased after her as she swerved in and out of the trees, jumping over logs and bushes like in their parkour training. Until she lead them nearer to the clearing where the traps were already set.

She jumped over the hole that was hovered fake grass—Maehara, Kimura, and Mimura had set that trap in the first semester but no one could be bothered to fill the hole back up—and climbed onto the tree opposite, grinning when the first two men fell into the hole.

Mitsuko smiled down at hole when the two guys screamed. “Oh, oopsie!”

She brandished the tazer when the two remaining men got closer, to the other trap near Kataoka and Okano.

The first guy fell for the trap when his foot stepped on the right spot, Kataoka jumped down with the weight in her hand, pulling the rope up around the man’s neck so he went flying in the air.

Okano leapt down and delivered a sharp kick to his skull while Mitsuko onto the second man’s shoulders and tazered him in the neck, and then flipped back to kick the next man in the stomach and knocked his gun to the ground.

“Ugh!” The fifth guy stumbled back from the kick and into the trunk of a tree, reaching for his knife—

Kataoka ran forward, grabbed his wrist—making him yelp from the sudden movement in the dark—and kneed him in the face, breaking his nose.

“Ah!” He grabbed her by the back of the head and threw her back against the tree.

“Hey!” Mitsuko grabbed a rock off the ground and threw it at his big head.

He winced when the small stone pierced his forehead and left a gash. “You damn brats!” He lunged at her, grabbing a second knife from his back pocket and swiping at her.

_Shit!_

. Her gaze shifted to Kataoka who was already getting back onto her feet and then Okano who was manoeuvring through the shadows of the trees, getting closer.

_Just keep him distracted._

Mitsuko ducked out of the way, remembering her sparring with Karma as the man moved in a similar unrelenting fashion. Only this man was a lot taller and muscular, and that knife definitely wasn’t plastic.

She shifted to the side and parried his hand and jumped back before he could swipe at her again, allowing Kataoka to dive in after to block his attack with a kick.

Okano approached from behind with the tazer and electrocuted him in the back, triggering a scream as his body spasmed.

Mitsuko grinned and tazered him in the chest before he had the chance to recover, letting the shock run through him before letting him pass out on the grass in a useless heap.

Kataoka smiled sweetly, tying the guy up. “Nice work, ladies.”

Okano high-fived Mitsuko. “Let’s get the rest tied up and move on.”

“What about the guys in the hole?” Mitsuko gestured over her shoulder.

Kataoka shrugged, dusting off her hands as she straightened up. “The mud’s wet since it rained yesterday, so they won’t be getting out anytime soon.” She shrugged. “It took Okajima at least three hours after I pushed him in.”

Mitsuko looked confused. “Wait, what?”

“Come on, we need to catch up with the others!” Okano was already tying up the rest and ready to go. “That freak with the scar won’t be far off.”

* * *

_They were so close!_

Mitsuko followed the rest of the others further up the mountain when they re-grouped.

“Everyone here?” she asked when she caught up with Rio.

Rio nodded, adjusting the bag on her waist. “Yep.” She grimaced when the bag jostled. “Shit, I hope this thing is still okay!”

“Let me see.” Mitsuko quickly peeked inside the bag and smiled when the smell hit her nostrils. “It’s all good.” She kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry.”

Rio grinned, holding her hand. “Good. Keeping that thing safe is more stressful than beating up the punk head wannabes.” Her smile wavered when she looked up at the dome which was closer and glowing brighter. “…You ready for this?”

“No.” Mitsuko squeezed her hand tight. “You?”

Rio gave a broken laugh. “Hell no.” Her grip was tight. “But we gotta see this through.”

Mitsuko’s chest hurt a little, taking in a deep breath as she nodded. “Right.”

“Hey lovebirds!” Terasaka yelled up ahead. “You can make out later when we aren’t on a time limit!!”

“Yeah, hurry up!” Muramatsu called from his perch on a rock.

“Buzz off!” Mitsuko waved her fist at him.

“They have a point!” Kimura raced passed them. “Hurry up!”

Rio rolled her eyes. “Come on.”

The two of them continued following the others further up the mountain.

Maehara, Kataoka, Okano, and Isogai took out two more guys as they all charged forward, leaving the knocked out bodies tied up behind them like bread crumbs in the woods.

Nagisa stood on a rock next to Kayano and looked over his shoulder. “Come on, guys, we need to—”

The wind whipped around them violently when a shadowy figure sped in without any of them clocking it until it was too late.

“Ah!” Rio nearly fell backwards but was caught by Mitsuko, the two girls sighting in relief that the precious package was safe.

Their relief died quickly when they saw Hojou dressed all in black with a very large gun hoisted over his shoulders as he leant against a tree.

Mitsuko grimaced, moving over to the others so they were better crowded together as Hojou stared them down behind his glasses.

“From this point forward…” Hojou smiled and adjusted the specs on his scarred face. “I’ll give you a lesson you will never forget.”

Mitsuko’s eye widened in alarm. “Shit.”

“Uh, not good,” Kimura yelped.

Sugaya grimaced. “Uh, anyone else guessing he isn’t carrying fake bullets in that gun?”

Hojou stood up straighter, casting large shadows as he stared down at them from his high point near the trees. “Honestly.” He didn’t even flinch when he caught two tranquillizer darts aimed at his face. “Tranquilizer darts. You’re better off using my subordinates guns. Without real bullets, you have no hope in defeating me.”

Mitsuko’s stomach flipped horribly as the air around them grew thick and cold, feeling some fear start to creep in, but she forced it away.

_Can’t freeze up now._

She looked around for Karma and Nagisa and started to smile when she saw they were gone.

_Good, then we stick to the plan and give this everything we’ve got._

Rio narrowed her eyes and slipped the bag off while Hojou was busy talking. “You ready?”

Mitsuko nodded, touching the tazer on her belt while Rio hid the bag behind one of the rocks so it was safe.

Then in a blink, Karma leapt out of the shadows and attacked from behind.

Her stomach lurched when Hojou hit him back so hard he went flying up and into the bushes.

“Fuck!” Okajima swore as they all were struck with shock just how hard he had managed to hit him back. “Did you—?”

Sugino threw a rock near Hojou’s head, sending it crumbling against a tree and knocking them back into action.

“Less talking more killing!” Rio hissed, stepping forward as they all jumped in.

Before Hojou could recover, Yada flashed the torch in his face, blinding him as his eyes scrunched up.

In the blaze of the light, they attacked from all corners with stones, sticks, and whatever weapon they had.

_Hit and run. Don’t give him a chance to remove his glasses or shoot._

Hojou was swerving around to block each of their hits, not having the chance to fire as he blocked off attacks from in front and behind.

Mitsuko threw a stone at him and then back off, trying to find an opening.

_Be aware of your enemy and allies._

Mr Karasuma’s instructions came back to all of them as they worked to manoeuvre around each other like a well-trained dance.

She saw an opening when Hojou rushed to avoid an incoming rock. She leapt forward and kicked the gun from his hands before the bastard had a chance to keep a tighter hold out of it.

Her boots skidded against the mud, kicking the gun into the bushes and out of sight.

Hojou flinched when the hover drone up above shot a dart into his neck.

That was the only flinch they needed before Nagisa made in move with a single powerful clap in the face.

Nagisa moved down the tree and grabbed Hojou by the face. “KARMA!”

The red-headed sadist jumped out from the bushes and delivered a swift powerful kick to the mercenary’s jaw.

Everyone else moved back as the mercenary fell to the ground, with Nagisa and Karma landing beside him.

Mitsuko let out a sigh when the woods grew quiet for a wonderful second.

“Nice!” Nagisa and Karma both smiled when they stepped away from the body and high fived.

Mitsuko smiled in amusement, but her smile faded in horror when she heard Hojou stir. “Uh!”

“WAIT!! HE’S STILL MOVING!!” Kayano yelled, pointing at Hojou in alarm.

“AH!!” Mitsuko panicked and started tazering him repeatedly in the shoulder along with the others. “HOW STRONG IS THIS GUY!?”

“QUICK! KEEP HITTING HIM!” Kayano yelled, beating him with a large stick.

“AH!!” Hojou spasmed as he was attacked by half a dozen students.

“Make sure to shoot his chest!” Hayami and Chiba shot him repeatedly with tranquillizers.

“Go down, damn it!” Terasaka was tazering him and angrily looked over at Nagisa and Karma who were sheepish. “PREMATURE CELEBRATION, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!” He lectured while tazering Hojou in the thigh. “NEXT TIME STROKE EACHOTHER’S EGOS AFTER THE MISSION IS ACTUALLY COMPLETE!”

“EXACTLY!” Mitsuko agreed, holding her tazer down hard on Hojou’s chest. “You think you’re in a damn action movie or something!”

“Uh…” Nagisa slumped.

Karma pursed his lips and looked away, embarrassed.

Mitsuko looked annoyed. “Well don’t just stand there! Help tie him up!!”

* * *

_Ten years ago…_

Mitsuko hesitantly, poked her head around the corner of her dad’s office, being careful not to spill the tray she was carrying.

The office was empty which was strange since her mom had told her that their father had been in there all day.

She shrugged it off and apprehensively walked over to the desk, looking around with a frown when she saw that all the drawings she and Gakushuu had done were no longer in the office…

Mitsuko tried to put the tray on the desk but she was still too short to react properly. “Ugh!”

She scowled and moved over to the chair where his computer was.

Carefully she placed the tray on the large chair and then climbed onto it, using it has a booster to put the tray on the desk.

Mitsuko grinned at how brilliant of an idea she thought that had been!

She smiled and made sure the tea was far enough from the electronics.

Her gaze stopped on the photo resting face down near the keyboard. Mitsuko picked it up and looked, recognising vaguely the three Cram school students who had always played with her and snuck her sweets.

Her mom had said the reason that dad was so sad was because one of the students had passed away, but she wasn’t really sure what she meant by that It was something she had heard people mention a few times but no one really explained it properly.

“Why are you in here?”

His voice made her jump and lookup.

Her dad was standing in the doorway with a scowl in his face instead of his usual smile.

Mitsuko forced a smiled. “I made you tea!” She quickly slid off the chair, holding the frame tight. “Mommy helped me make it.”

Dad remained quiet, sitting in the chair while his gaze remained distant. “Don’t come in here and touch things.” He took the photo from her. “Do you understand?”

Her brow furrowed, shifting uncomfortably. “Sorry, daddy.”

His scowl worsened. “You’re not an infant, Mitsuko,” his voice sharpened, making her jump. “Speak properly or not at all.” He placed the photo carefully back on the desk.

She winced, confused by his impatience. “Yes…dad…” she corrected, remembering some of the older kids call their fathers that. “I’m sorry.”

He looked annoyed still and she was wondering what she was doing wrong.

“The tea is nice." She tried to refocus him on the drink, hoping it would make him smile again. “It’s your favourite.” He ignored her and narrowed his eyes at the photo. “Momm—mom said…” She hesitated. “Mom said that you’re sad because your student passed away.”

He gripped the frame tight.

“But-but don’t be sad, dad.” She grabbed the hand on his lap. “My teacher says when we die we go to heaven, so you’ll see them again!” Her smile was warm. “And that you can eat all the dessert you—” She winced when he dug his nails into her small hand too hard. “Dad…”

He didn’t look at her for a second, staring at the photo in his hand, gripping tight still until her eyes watered.

His grip slackened and became gentle again when he looked at her. “Your teacher is ill-informed,” he said quietly, placing a hand on her head gently, causing her to move closer and relax. “My student is no longer with us. He’s gone.” His voice hardened. “No one will ever see him again, because he’s dead.” His voice sounded weird like it was painful for him to speak. “That is death.”

Mitsuko tensed, looking up at him in confusion. “But mom said—”

“Your mother is wrong as well,” he spoke over her. “Death does not lead to a _wonderful place_. It is a permanent _end._ ” He started to sound angry. “I will not have you entertain these delusions.” He dug his fingers into her scalp, making her tense again. “Nothing good comes from dying. Do you understand?”

She nodded quickly, growing scared again as the concept of death became terrifying. She imagined her brother ‘passing away’ and never seeing him again, and then her mom and dad as well. Then she’d be all alone.

The fear wrapped around like a coil. “I don’t want people to die!” Her eyes welled up with more tears, a sob coming up from her throat. “I don’t like it!” She sobbed and clung onto him. “I don’t want you to die or-or…”

“Enough of that.” He shushed her, petting her head more gently now. “That won’t be for a long time.” He wiped away some of the tears with his thumb. “There’s no reason to cry over things that haven’t happened yet.”

She held onto him and closed her eyes while he gently stroked her head soothingly like he normally did when she had a nightmare or was sad. It dawned on her quickly how much she had missed it. He hadn’t even hugged her or Gakushuu for a while now, or played hide and seek with them, or done piggyback rides.

She wiped her eyes tight and sniffled when she tried to climb onto his lap for a hug, but he kept her and arm's length away, gripping her shoulder so she couldn’t get close. 

“Dad?” she mumbled, trying to reach out.

His expression was closed off again. “You should go help your mother.” He turned away from her and placed the photo on the desk. “I have a lot of work I need to do.”

* * *

There was a heaviness in the air that was suffocating as the invisible clock ticked down.

“So, are we ready?” Sugaya said, trying to smile when he looked around, but not managing it.

Fuwa checked the time on her phone. “Not long until Midnight.”

Mitsuko swallowed a lump in her throat. “Then why are we standing here like idiots?” her voice wavered, stepping forward along with some of the others. “Let’s go say goodbye.”

The glow of the shield made her wince when she stepped through it along with her friends, climbing the final steps up the mountain to the Old Campus building until—

Mitsuko’s throat constricted when the first thing she and everyone else saw was Koro-sensei standing at the top of the steps waiting for them.

They all stopped and stared at him like they couldn’t believe he was actually still there.

“Even from listening from afar, I could ascertain that you just defeated a formidable enemy.” His voice was proud and warm. “You’ve all grown, each and every one of you.”

Mitsuko’s eyes pricked with tears as she took in a sharp breath.

“KORO-SENSEI!” They yelled, running towards him.

Koro-sensei chuckled when they rushed forward with knives and hugs.

Mitsuko barrelled into his side and embraced him tight, his stomach feeling like a squishy cushion.

Everyone was laughing around her, shooting near him playfully and trying to stab him while he leapt them away with his tentacles.

She rubbed her eyes quickly when she felt a few tears threaten to come out.

“Mitsuko?” Koro-sensei chuckled, patting her on the head. “Did you have fun getting here?”

Mitsuko gave a broken laugh, smiling up at him. “Yeah, besides the bullets and homicidal mercenaries.”

“That’s good to hear,” he replied warmly. “I hope you all enjoyed proving your skill.”

Kurahashi grinned. “They had no idea what they were up against!”

“I even ended up using up all my spices! Karma chimed, earning a concerned look from Koro-sensei.

“Sir, we have to hurry,” Isogai said, looking worried. “The lazer strikes just before midnight!”

“We don’t have much time!” Kataoka said.

Mitsuko gripped Koro-sensei’s robes tight when their teacher looked unconcerned.

“I see.” Koro-sensei looked up at the sky. “So the lazer will be fired just before Midnight.” He hummed. “Judging by the intensity of this light, even transforming into my absolute defence form would do me no good.”

Mitsuko sighed, loosening her hold as she started to feel sick.

Kurahashi rushed to speak. “You can take us, hostage!” She started rambling about negotiating with the government.

Koro-sensei looked at them fondly. “No matter how influential of a hostage I take, I doubt the officials will hold off on the firing of the laser any longer,” he reminded them. “After all, the life of your entire planer is on the line.”

They settled into another silence as the blatant truth grew more blaring each second that passed.

“Koro-sensei,” Hayami murmured, keeping her gaze low. “Were you expecting…something like this to happen?”

Mitsuko’s stomach twisted.

_Of course, he did._

She felt colder while he spoke about how it was always going to end this way, which was true. He’d been living on borrowed time, living each day like it was his last.

Mitsuko closed her eyes tight as her eyes stung.

He was going to leave, and he wouldn’t be back. That was death, and anything that was left behind was a memory.

Her stomach hurt when her eyes watered more, burying her face in her teacher’s robes so the others wouldn’t see.

“…The fact that the entire world combined their intelligence and worked together to create an assassination that could exceed my own abilities.” Koro-sensei gently rested a tentacle on her shoulder. “I cannot help but see it as the ultimate sign of respect that they would and could go this far. And, that I was the target of their immaculate and well thought out efforts is an incredible honour.”

Mitsuko swallowed and tried to keep calm.

_The last thing they need is me crying._

“But then…” Yada looked upset “Does that mean our efforts were in vain?”

“There is no such thing as a wasted effort, Miss Yada.” He patted her on the head. “You all travelled all the way out to space in order to confirm that the possibility of my self-destruction was less than 1%.”

Mitsuko grimaced. “But it wasn’t enough to save you!” She looked up fiercely. “We should have done more!”

A number of her classmates nodded, with some looking close to tears.

“You did more than enough, more than I could have ever expected how hoped for,” Koro-sensei said gently. “Thanks to that discover, Class E regained its livelihood, and the month that followed, while short, was truly filled with fun.” Her classmates still looked subdued. “That process…and that feeling…is what’s most important.”

“But you’ll still be gone,” Mitsuko muttered, growing sick. Her teacher’s soft reassurance doing little to make her feel better.

“IT’S JUST A MERE 1%!” Terasaka shouted. “WE’RE ALL READY TO FACE A RISK THAT SMALL!”

 _But the rest of the world isn’t,_ she thought while Terasaka ranted.

They were tiny fish in an ocean and the world wasn’t going to accept their version of the truth, not a large majority anyway.

Her classmates wouldn’t accept this, continuing t rant about speaking up and how things weren’t happening how they wanted.

“Please don’t die,” she whispered, finding it hard to speak. “Don’t leave.”

“I have to.” His voice was gentle and patient, bending down slightly.

“I’ll never see you again,” she mumbled, digging her fingers into his robes.

“What’s on the other side or not doesn’t matter,” he told her quietly. “What matters is our memories and everything you’ve learnt.” He looked at her warmly. “You've already learned so much, and I’m so proud of you.”

Her eyes stung worse, ducking her head so he wouldn’t see. “Sir…”

“All of you,” Koro-sensei spoke. “How about I give you some words of wisdom?”

Mitsuko rubbed her eyes and listened carefully.

He talked about society and how it would withhold them from getting the results they needed.

Her father’s constant teaching of it came back and mingled into her thoughts.

_The world was a hard and judgemental place that crushed weakness._

Mitsuko grimaced and closed her eyes, feeling like a little kid again and being told by her dad how the world would crush her and spit her out again.

“Do not reject society,” Koro-sensei said firmly, causing her to look up as they all listened. “To put it bluntly, that is simply a waste of time.” He rested a tentacle on her head. “When such a time arises, tell yourselves, that’s just life.” He made a dopey face and shrugged. “This is what you must drill into you must drill into your heads in order to overcome such negativity.”

Her brow furrowed hen he continued and talked about navigating through society like a current to find a way to not get dragged down with each failure and problem. That navigating through society meant not always facing their problems head-on, and to analyse and adapt like the assassins he’d spent a whole year training them to be.

“Don’t panic,” he said softly, patting her head as she clung on. “And stay persistent with a dying will to succeed. There is no doubt this kind of logical thinking will eventually yield great results. I know that you all…” His smile was warm. “Are first-class assassins capable of doing so.”

Mitsuko felt a small smile tug onto her lips as they all grew quiet again.

“Keh.” Terasaka broke the silence. “You’re still trying to school us! In a situation like this?!”

Her smile grew while Koro-sensei chuckled. “I teach because we are in this situation!”

Mitsuko sighed and gently eased her hold on his robes, wiping her eyes when Sugaya placed a hand on her shoulder. “Stupid octopus…” she mumbled, taking a step back as she let go of his robe. “he always has to turn everything in a lesson.”

Sugaya smiled while Koro-sensei kept talking. “It is his speciality.” His smile was reassuring. “It’s okay to be sad.”

She scowled, blushing as she wiped her eyes. “I know that, idiot.” She crossed her arms it was just an emotional moment. I’m over it now.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Right, sure.” He looked amused. “You’re such a softy.”

Mitsuko blushed and stepped on his foot hard. “Shut up.”

“Hey!” He snapped.

Koro-sensei patted each one of them on the head as he finished.

Mitsuko’s smile returned, taking a deep breath as she tried to focus on what he had said, finding it calming.

Then Rio stepped forward and removed the bag from her waist. “If I remember correctly, Professor Yukimura made today your Birthday.”

Mitsuko laughed when Koro-sensei’s entire expression lit up with wonder when he saw the luxury cake that had been carefully transported.

“CAKE!! He bent down like he was worshipping the dessert, panting over it while Rio was proudly recounting how she had gotten the cake.

“In fact,” Rio spoke smugly. “I’d appreciate a little gratitude for taking care to—”

“Uh, Rio….” Mitsuko tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at Koro-sensei who was salivating over the cake. “Not sure he’s paying attention.”

Rio looked livid at their teacher. “Hey! I’M TALKING HERE!” She yelled at Koro-sensei who was lost in a world of his own.

“Yeah, pretty sure he tuned out the minute he saw the cake,” Mitsuko remarked dryly.

“More like the minute he smelt it,” Maehara commented as they watched their teacher drool.

Rio let out a frustrated cry and lit a match. “Let’s just hurry and get the song over with already!!”

Mitsuko laughed, while Ro grumbled and lit the candle on the cake. “Okay, everyone start singing!”

They all gathered around and started to sing happy birthday, harmonising while Koro-sensei watched them silently.

Mitsuko felt a warm glow in her chest when she saw his expression. “Happy birthday, Koro-sensei!” They smiled. “Happy birthday, to you!”

For a second their teacher just stared at the candle on the cake, the flame lighting up his face in a warm glow of light.

“Hurry up and blow it out!” Okajima said. “We only brought one candle so you only get one shot.”

Koro-sensei chuckled softly and then breathed in deeply to—

A coal-black tentacle smashed into the cake before he ever got the chance to make a final wish. 


	80. You let the world get a little bigger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The next chapter is the final one and then this story is over! 
> 
> Thanks for everyone who liked and commented, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.

When all the fighting was over it was like the air had been sucked out, a whole year of training and nearly dying as collateral. All lead to them holding their teacher down as Nagisa plunged the knife into his heart.

Mitsuko’s face was buried in the ground of their deceased teacher's robes, the tears dried up after spending a good hour crying with her classmates in the dark.

None of them had moved and honestly, she didn’t know if she could. Her legs felt like lead, weighing down on her and keeping her place.

She could do nothing but stay still and cling onto the torn remanents of the robes, their teacher having long disappeared once his heart had been struck.

“…Kids,” Bitch-sensei’ voice was the most gentle and soft she’d ever heard it. “I’m sorry but…” She placed a hand on Mitsuko’s shoulder. “The soldiers will be here soon to confirm the…” She couldn’t finish. “You can’t stay here.”

There was a broken sob from Terasaka. “Fuck them!” His voice was mumbled and hoarse. “W-we…we’re not…”

“It’s alright,” Karasuma said calmly, and when Mitsuko shakily lifted her gaze she saw he had a hand on Terasaka’s shoulder. “It’s getting cold—”

“Don’t make us leave!” Kurahashi cried out. “P-please!”

“I won’t,” he said quickly, standing up.

“Can…can…” Nagisa slowly lifted his head. “Can we stay up here or a while…inside the classroom.”

“Please…” Karma muttered, staring at the grass as his nails dug into the ground. “Just give us time.”

“Of course.” Mr Karasuma’s face was solemn. “I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”

Bitch-sensei nodded as well. “Yes, we’ll make sure.”

Mitsuko sighed shakily in relief, forcing herself to sit up. “Thank you.”

Both Bitch-sensei and Mr Karasuma nodded apprehensively before moving back and giving them more space.

Mitsuko swallowed, wiping her eyes as she crawled closer to Rio and wrapped her arms around her. Her girlfriend held her tight and buried her face in her next while the rest of their classmates slowly started to stand up.

“I want to go inside,” Kayano said quietly, looking at the Old Campus building.

“Me too,” Kanzaki whispered as they all looked at the classroom which had felt like a safe haven from the rest of the world.

Mitsuko wiped her eyes and held Rio’s hand as they walked to the 3-E Classroom.

When they arrived inside, they all froze when they saw two giant books on each of their desks, one labelled ‘Assassination memories’ and the other a ‘personalised consultation guidebook’. There were certificate tubes as well, one for each of them on their desks.

“What is this?” Rio muttered as they all apprehensively walked to their desks.

“H-he did say he was putting together an album,” Sugino said, giving a weak laugh. “And you know how…” His voice broke as more tears brimmed in his eyes. “How he liked to go overboard.”

Mitsuko’s legs felt wobbly as she sat down at her desk, and froze when she saw the scarf she’d made him was neatly folded in-between the two books with a note.

Her fingers trembled when she picked up the small piece of paper and read it,

 _‘Your gift has been quite comforting over these last number of days—especially since your father skimped out on proper heating for the classroom—Unfortunately, I won’t be able to take this with me in the end. So please make sure you give it to someone special.’_ – Koro-sensei.

Her eyes stung when the tears built up again, finding it hard to breathe, but she tried to stay composed, breathing slowly, staying calm like he’d taught her.

Mitsuko swallowed and opened the first page of the guidebook and was instantly greeted with a manga page of him building a birdhouse while she was trying to block out the noise.

 _‘The first key tips of birdhouse building are often neglected by most newcomers to the craft._ ’ There was an illustration of Koro-sensei in a plaid shirt and overalls crafting a house. ‘ _The first thing you’ve got to keep in mind is your basic insulation. Birdhouses made out of at least 1-inch-thick wood provide good insulation, unlike....’_

She nearly choked at how ridiculous the advice was as the whole comic strip went into extraneous detail on the craft.

Mitsuko rubbed her eyes and kept reading while the rest of her friends read their own guides and looked through the memories.

The more she read on the more personal the advice became, going from emergency blood transfusion tips—she still wasn’t quite sure why he felt a need to include that—to stuff about proper stress management and meditation.

 _‘Though your mother did say you weren’t a fan of it.’_ A comic strip of Koro-sensei mused while trying to meditate. _‘I’ll admit it was difficult at first for me to get into but if you just give it some more time you might enjoy it—try incorporating it into a Yoga routine!’_

She smiled feebly and kept reading until she came to a written page where he’d written down.

_‘I’ve decided to play our game again, except it isn’t really fair since you won’t be able to ask me questions, but after everything you’ve told me, I believe you are owed some information from me in return for the information you’ve freely shared with me over the past three months without a demand for anything back._

_There’s still a great deal we never got to talk about, but I think it’s important you know that the strongest people are the most emotional. I understand this is a philosophy that contradicts what you’ve been told your whole life, but please indulge your teacher one last time to lay on what your brother called ‘hippy advice’._

_Being emotional is being human, it’s what drives our passions and helps us understand each other, and if we try to deny that part of ourselves then we’re trapping ourselves in a dark place where we can’t get close to people._

_When you first arrived in my class you pushed people away, but then you made friends and you let the world get a little bigger. I hope you understand how happy it made me seeing you learn that. The only thing I ask is that you don’t let it shrink again and that you remember it’s alright to be upset and angry, but don’t hold onto it.’_

Mitsuko wiped her eyes when some tears hit the pages, sniffling loudly. The paralysing grief from earlier passed through the more she cried, as a lighter sadness waved in.

She rubbed her nose and continued to read the last line.

_‘And, lastly, while your personal happiness is important, please remember….that cutting your teacher’s salary for your own amusement is not funny!’_

There was an illustration of a homeless looking Koro-sensei begging on the street.

A laugh came out of her throat, broken up and mangled when she stared at the image he’d drawn, wrapping her arms around the book as she buried her face in the pages.

Around her, she could hear the sound of her classmates crying and laughing as she drifted off to sleep when exhaustion won over.

* * *

The nameless higher up, who was still nursing the bruise on his face from Terasaka’s kick, stiffly congratulated them while in the presence of Karasuma and the other military higher-ups.

“Your parents are waiting for you downstairs.” The man looked like he wanted to strangle them. “…Thank you for your service to this country, children.”

They didn’t particularly care and all just stared back at him blankly. The books Koro-sensei had been carefully carried with them and were by their side; they hadn’t let the soldiers touch them, not even when they struggled to carry them.

Mitsuko held the two atrociously large books close to her while she sat in the chair, he graduation certificate hooked to her side.

“Well…” Karma’s voice was dry. “Someone had to do your job.”

Mitsuko snorted along with a few of her friends as a vein twitched on the man’s forehead.

She could have sworn she even saw Mr Karasuma smile.

* * *

“MY BABY!!” Mom’s voice was a shriek when they entered the entrance where all their parents were waiting.

Mitsuko yelped in alarm as her mom barrelled into her, dropping her books. “Mom!”

“Hano!!!” Kurahashi’s dad was bawling and ran over to her, lifting her up. “I WAS SO WORRIED!”

Mitsuko groaned and saw similar looks of embarrassment from her friends when their parents surrounded them.

“You promised you’d stay out of danger!” Nagisa’s mom pinched his cheek hard, earning a number of wary glares from 3-E. “The soldiers said you almost died!”

“We were on a mission!” Nagisa complained, scowling as he broke free and rubbed his cheek. “We were careful.”

“Yeah, we only nearly died once this time,” Hazama commented, shrugging as her mother looked horrified. “That’s not so bad considering past instances!”

“What the hell, Ryoma?!” A burly man wearing glasses looked at Terasaka in alarm and whacked the side of his head. “You worried the shit out of me!!”

Terasaka scowled at him and punched his dad’s arm. “I was off saving the world, asshole!

“You should have called!” Mrs Nakamura stressed while hugging Rio.

“It was a secret mission!” Rio yelled.

“Yeah, we had to escape the government after they kidnapped up!” Fuwa complained to her parents.

“You still could have called!” Sugaya’s dad complained.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and looked at her mom. “Sorry for worrying you…”

Mom sniffled, blowing her nose in a handkerchief. “You should be!” She huffed. “What even happened! I overheard one of the soldiers say Koro-sensei was fighting a monster?”

“…Yeah.” Mitsuko lowered her gaze. “He did.” She looked up at her mom tiredly. “Can we…can we just go home?”

Mom looked at her worriedly, cupping her cheek. “Of course.” She kissed her forehead and hugged her. “Come on.”

She nodded, moving over to Rio and her parents. “Hey…”

“Hey.” Rio squeezed her hand. “You heading home?”

“Yeah.” Mitsuko swallowed. “I’ll call you.”

Rio nodded kissing her cheek. “Okay.”

“We’re glad you’re all safe, girls.” Mr Nakamura ruffled Mitsuko’s head. “You gave us a hell of a scare.”

Mitsuko smiled feebly and held onto her girlfriend’s hand a little longer before walking back to her mom, giving Sugaya a light nudge on the shoulder as she passed while he was embraced by his parents. “Text later?”

Sugaya looked up from his mom and dad’s arms wrapped around him. “Yeah.”

She smiled slightly and picked up her books from where she’d left them next to her mom.

“Um…” Mom looked confused. “Do you really need to carry—”

“Yes!” Mitsuko struggled a bit to carry them, looking over her shoulder when she nearly stumbled back and fell over.

Karma was standing alone and partly away from him—her chest twisted when she realised his parents weren’t there.

“Mom.” She turned around and frowned. “Can Karma stay over? His stuff is still at ours right?”

Mom frowned briefly but then nodded. “Oh, well yes, of course, he can—"

“Karma! Be a gentleman and help me!" She ordered over her shoulder.

Karma jumped a tiny fraction at the sudden address. “What?!”

“Come help me, asshole!” She masked her worry with a glare. “Mom said you can come stay over at ours.”

His eyes lit up briefly before he raised an eyebrow. “Geeze, so rude.” He walked over and helped her with the books while. “You know I have to carry my own books as well right?”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes and hefted the books up while he stopped the other one from falling. “Yeah, and? You’re meant to be super strong.”

“So are you.”

“Yeah, but my books are clearly heavier because Koro-sensei loves me more.”

“I still have a chilli left,” he warned darkly. "Don't make me use it."

“What?” Mom looked concerned as she followed them out.

She scoffed. “Don’t forget you’ll be sleeping under my roof.” Her smile was sharp. “And Gaku-nii and I have you outnumbered.”

He shrugged. “So? It just makes it more fun.”

* * *

Mitsuko took a deep breath, sitting with her classmates and year group in the assembly hall as Gakushuu did his long and overdone speech.

“How long is this speech?” Okajima muttered further down the row after the speech had gone on for ten minutes.

Mitsuko smiled faintly. “Well, he spent three weeks practicing it.”

Karma sighed, crossing his arms. “Yeah, I heard him practising it this morning.” He rolled his eyes. “I even gave him some healthy criticism but he just told me to buzz off.”

Mitsuko snorted. “You told him it sucked.”

He shrugged. “I mean it still does.”

Isogai sighed from next to him. “Karma…”

“Hey, honestly hurts.” Karma shrugged again, scowling as he adjusted the tight tie around his neck. "How long do I have to wear this again?”

Mitsuko whacked his hand away. “Stop it.”

“And lastly!” Gakushuu raised his voice and glared in E Class direction, causing them all to tense up while Karma grinned back. “That is the most important thing we have to learn from the year, that no matter what position we hold in life…” He sighed, briefly glancing at the Principal and the faculty on the side. “Is that we have to learn from failure.”

_That hadn’t been in the original speech._

Mitsuko stared at her brother in surprise.

“Huh?” Karma looked confused.

“Acknowledging our weakness is a part of our strength, as is…letting people in as we grow into adulthood.” Her brother looked annoyed when she smiled widely. “We have to be adaptable, and move with the changing times so we can sharpen our…” His brow furrowed, looking at his notes. “Second blade as they say.”

Mitsuko’s smile grew with pride while the rest of her classmates were gawking.

Gakushuu cleared his throat. “Or so I’ve been told…I am still yet to verify the authenticity of the source considering rumours of his less than stellar reputation.”

The main campus students looked confused when 3-E chuckled from the middle while her brother raised an eyebrow at them.

“Did your brother just tell a joke?” Kataoka said from behind her.

Mitsuko laughed “Maybe.”

Her brother tidied up his notes. “It has been an honour serving as your student council president,” he told them cordially. “Now we will commence with the remainder of the ceremony.”

Mitsuko smiled brightly and stood up when he clapped loudly, whistling to add to his embarrassment when he blushed and glared at her, sitting with the other council members.

“I thought you said the speech sucked?” Okano peered as Karma while she clapped with the rest of the school.

Karma smirked and clapped. “Guess I judged too early.”

* * *

Mitsuko was pushed together in a group with Sugaya, Nagisa, Kayano, Karma, and Takebayashi.

“Let me get a picture!” Mom was giddy with the camera. “Gakushuu, stop wandering off!”

Gakushuu looked impatient, trying to escape. “I have matters to attend too, mother!”

“Take a picture with your friends!” Mom complained.

“They’re not my friends!” Her brother looked embarrassed while Mitsuko and the others laughed.

“Aw, don’t be mean, Asano-chan!” Karma complained.

“Stop calling me that!” Gakushuu snapped.

Mom snapped a quick picture. “Okay, now get closer.”

Mitsuko laughed when her brother made a frustrated noise and rushed off before their mom could stop him.

“So rude,” Karma tutted.

“Honestly…” Mom sighed, looking at the photos. “Well, I need to go find the Principal so I’ll leave you, kids, to it.” She smiled sweetly and kissed Mitsuko on the head. “Don’t go outside yet until the press is gone, your father is still trying to get security to chase the last of them out.”

Mitsuko nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

Sugaya smiled. “Yeah, Bitch-sensei said she’d shoot a few if they got too close.”

Mom’s eyes widened. “What?!”

“Uh!” Mitsuko quickly intervened. “We’re just joking.” She quickly tried to usher her friends away. “Obviously!”

“Um…” Mom frowned. “Wait-“

They hastily ran off before she could finish.

“You still haven’t told her about Bitch-sensei?” Nagisa asked.

Mitsuko smiled sheepishly. “It’s still on my list…”

“That and the whole Reaper 2.0 can of worms,” Karma commented.

“To be honest my parents are still wrapping their heads around half the stuff we did,” Takebayashi commented. “They’re actually talking to me now.”

Nagisa nodded nervously. “Yeah…my mom says I’m grounded until I’m eighteen…my curfew’s at 8 pm now.”

Mitsuko scoffed. “At least she doesn’t track you like you’re on parole.”

Kayano sighed. “I know. My dad called me in the first time in a year to ask me is I was alive—I was so shocked I nearly choked on my dinner.”

“Same.” Karma shrugged. “They finally tuned into the news long enough to call me instead of texting. I think my mom even cried.” He shrugged. “I forgot she could even do that.”

Sugaya looked at them in alarm. “At some point, we seriously need to talk about your homelives.” He grimaced. “I’m genuinely concerned.”

Mitsuko shrugged. “We’ll save you the time and just write a book—God knows the lawsuit’s against my dad will provide a substantial amount of material.”

“You’re still suing him?” Nagisa looked surprised.

“Can’t walk away from a commitment, Nagisa,” she replied, smiling slightly. “Besides it makes great bonding time in court.”

Sugaya buried his face in his palm.

“Well, I’m off to see if they actually have ay decent food around here,” Karma announced.

“Karma, it’s a graduation ceremony, not a buffet,” Mitsuko commented dryly.

He shrugged. “Yeah, so? Your dad still hired waiters and I can smell nachos somewhere.”

“It’s not nachos!” she called after him but it was too late as he was already gone. “I swear he’s gonna drive me crazy in high school.”

“Yeah, probably.” Nagisa smiled, chuckling. “At least it’ll be interesting, though.”

Mitsuko smiled slightly. “True…”

Nagisa hummed, looking around as students and parents were gathered together before resting on Karma who was stealing tiny finger snacks off a table. “Actually, can I ask a favour?” his voice grew quiet.

“Huh?” She looked down curiously. “Yeah, sure, what is it?”

“…Look after him in high school,” Nagisa asked her softly. “It’s hard for him to let people get close so…just make sure he isn’t alone.”

Mitsuko’s felt something warm stir in her chest. “Of course.” Her smile was fond. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

Nagisa smiled up thankfully. “Thanks, Mitsuko.”

“Even if he is a pain in the ass,” she muttered.

He laughed. “Yeah, but he can be a good friend where it counts.”

“True.” Mitsuko nodded, feeling her gaze shift over to Rio when she saw her standing alone near a window. “Just give me a second.”

“Yeah, sure.” Nagisa nodded as she walked over to her girlfriend.

“Hey.” Mitsuko nudged Rio’s shoulder as she passed. “Karma’s convinced there’s a hidden supply of food here.”

Rio smiled in amusement, crossing her arms. “Of course, he does.”

Mitsuko leaned against the window across from her. “He’s raiding the table for whatever he can find.” She glanced through the window which was showing the city and the mountain. “Nice view.”

“Yeah.” Rio looked out of the window and sighed. “…I’m not brooding here if that’s at you’re worried about.”

“I wasn’t assuming,” Mitsuko said quickly, looking sheepish. “Though, the gazing out of the window…” She raised an eyebrow. “Kind of paints a picture.”

“I was thinking—”

_In other words brooding._

“—About how we’re now practically celebrities.” Rio held her hand. “And the media is going to hound our asses for the foreseeable future.”

Mitsuko felt something twist in her stomach. “Oh….” She looked at their hands. “So you want our relationship to be more…” She grimaced. “Hidden?”

“Mitsuko!” Rio looked exasperated. “Seriously?”

“What!? I’m thinking worst-case scenario!” Her cheeks heated up when she scowled. “Your fault for being cryptic.”

Her girlfriend sighed. “Well sorry, I didn’t start making out with you in front of the cameras straight away!”

Mitsuko blushed more. “Oh…well, I…” She looked away. “Wouldn’t be against that.”

Rio arched an eyebrow briefly before smiling. “Me neither.”

Mitsuko kissed her gently. “I don’t want it to be a secret from anyone.” She pulled her into a hug. “I…” She swallowed thickly. “I love—”

“THERE THEY ARE!!”

The two of them jolted back in alarm when they saw a rampage of press storm in from inside while Karasuma tried to hold them back.

“CLASS E!!”

Mitsuko and Rio were pushed towards their classmates as the reporters closed in like vultures.

“HEY! Look at the camera!”

“Oh, shit!” Maehara swore as they were getting boxed in.

Kayano grimaced. “We need to get out of here before they start asking for direct quotes!”

“WE JUST NEED ONE QUOTE!!”

“Too late,” Sugino replied.

Hara looked around worriedly. “Maybe we can escape through—”

She was interrupted when suddenly a flurry of students surround them like a shield, pushing the reporters back, as a Kunigiagoka banner was pulled up like an umbrella, hiding them more from view.

Mitsuko’s eyes widened in alarm. “What, the—?”

“Come along then,” her brother said impatiently stepping in front. “We won’t be able to hold them back forever.”

“Hey, Mitsuko!” Kondo said brightly from where he and the rest of Class A were holding up the banner.

“Hi.” Juba waved shyly.

“You guys are protecting us?!” Rio looked around in disbelief.

“Really?” Mitsuko stared at the students as a warm smile spread across her face. “Guys, that’s—"

“Hurry up!” Seo shoved her ahead. “Losers get left behind.”

She scowled and elbowed him in the stomach. “Screw you!”

Gakushuu sighed and kept walking ahead. “Less violence, Mitsuko, the press are watching.”

Mitsuko huffed and walked in line with her brother. “Trust me, that’s the least of the controversy I’ll probably unleash on them.”

Her brother rolled her eyes. “Which is why I’ve always been better at dealing with them than you.”

She shrugged, smiling still. “True.” Mitsuko linked arms with him. “But I always had the best smile for the cameras.” She smirked. “Besides, you’re the one putting yourself in the spotlight here.”

“Yeah, why are you doing this?!” Kimura caught up quickly. “I mean…you don’t have to.”

Her brother sighed deeply. “With graduation comes a clean slate,” he said clearly as the rest of her classmates listened. “But abandoning former classmates in their time of need would be disgraceful.” He scowled briefly and then looked over his shoulder. “I may be ruthless, but as your future leader I’m not about to court shame.”

Then Karma hurried to the front. “That and he’s totally worried about making enemies with us again because he knows we can kill him!”

A vein throbbed in her brother's forehead. “I swear I will throw you to the vultures right now if you don’t shut up!”

Her classmates started to smile and laugh.

Karma grinned as he was forcefully shoved back by Seo and Araki.

Her brother gave a deep breath, composing himself. “I swear, I will murder him.”

“No, you won’t.” Mitsuko squeezed her brother’s arm, smiling proudly. “You’re a good person.”

He sighed, annoyed. “Yes well…don’t tell them that." He said with complete seriousness as they were escorted to the bus waiting for them outside. "I still a reputation to uphold.”


	81. Chapter 81

The new apartment was nice, which was expected since she’d helped pay for it instead of going with the original plan of renting, even if mom had needed some convincing. So the new bedroom was nice. The pastel purples were a bit much but they looked cute, and the floorboards were white so that made the whole place look brighter.

Mitsuko sat on the floor of her new room, curling her knees up to her chin as she leant against the inside of her closet; her bags of clothes half-rammed into it, keeping the doors wide open.

The entire room was a mess since she hadn’t unpacked and it was already getting late.

“Hey?” Gakushuu peered around the door, struggling to open it with the amount of boxes in the way. “Are you even going to tidy up?!”

She shrugged. “I’m having a break.”

Her brother looked around the messy room. “Oh, yes, clearly it was well earned.” He sighed and stepped more into the room, moving some bags and boxes out of the way. “I’ve already unpacked.”

“That’s because you’re a control freak.”

“No. You’re just lazy.”

The corner of her lip curved up. “Exactly what a control freak would say.”

He sighed loudly, rubbing his eyes. “I can’t deal with you…”

She chuckled. “That’s because I’m right.”

He fixed her with a look. “If I bury you in here they’ll never find you.”

“Go ahead.” Mitsuko shrugged. “If I suffocate I’ll just haunt you for the rest of your days.”

Gakushuu groaned in frustration, sitting down next to her. “Just…shut up.”

Her smile grew. “Just making conversation.” She leant against the wall. “So do you like your new room?”

He shrugged. “A room’s a room.”

She hummed as they fell into silence for a while.

Gakushuu glanced at her before reaching into his pocket. “Here.”

Her eyes widened when she saw the familiar green plastic knife. “How did—”

“Mom said you had to give your weapons back to the government.” He replied, handing her it. “I found it in your room a few months back.”

She held the knife tightly, holding it close to her chest. “Thanks…”

“It’s fine.” He looked at her thoughtfully. “…Mom says she wants us to continue our sessions with Dr Yokoyama.”

“Will he even take us back?” Mitsuko questioned.

“Well…not dad but mom says he’s willing to take the three of us as clients again.”

“Oh.” She gripped the knife tight. “That could be nice then.”

“Yeah.” Her brother tapped his finger hesitantly on his knee. “This all still feels…”

“Weird?” She suggested, smiling feebly. “Still wrapping my head around how this is gonna be our new normal.”

Gakushuu hummed, looking around the room. “It is strange.” He frowned. “I still expect him to come upstairs, or start asking us about our homework.” He fidgeted. “I should be studying but…I’m not.”

“Yeah…it’s weird.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Like a whole new routine.”

Her brother hummed, staying quiet for a while longer. “True…”

“I tried calling him but he was busy,” Mitsuko said, shrugging. “He was dealing with another press conference and there was a meeting I think…”

“…He’ll probably call later,” he brother said. “Then we’ll be complaining that he’s being overbearing again.”

She smiled slightly. “Yeah, probably.”

“Mom says we can have a later curfew though,” Gakushuu said, frowning. “And she said we can have a housewarming party if we want without supervision…”

“That could be fun.” Mitsuko’s smile grew. “Maybe she’ll let Rio sleepover too!”

Her brother scowled. “Not on your life!”

She smirked. “Just try to stop me and see how well that works out for you.”

“I already have to put up with Karma coming over,” he muttered.

Mitsuko’s brow rose. “Oh, so it’s _Karma_ now!”

He flicked her cheek. “Shut up.”

“Ow!” She scowled and rubbed her cheek. “You’re so mean.”

“Only because you’re annoying.”

She smiled in amusement and leant against him. “You still love me though.”

“Unfortunately.”

She scoffed, staring at the knife. “Thanks for keeping this—though I do want to know why you were snooping around my room?”

“It was literally laying on the floor,” he replied dryly. “It’s not my fault you’re a disorganised mess.”

“Ow. That’s just low.” Mitsuko sighed loudly. “And I’m actually very organised. I’m just not a clean freak like you.” She fiddled with the Anti-sensei knife. “You know, I really did suck at the assassination thing at first.”

“Oh.” He tensed a bit, looking over. “I…honestly would have guessed differently.”

She shrugged, smiling faintly. “I got worked up a lot since it seemed like all my friends were getting the hang of it easier than me, but Koro-sensei said I needed to take more chances and initiative,” she said quietly. “He had a really good perception on getting everyone to reach their potential even if they didn’t see it yet.”

“…Yes, Ms Jelavic mentioned something similar,” Gakushuu replied apprehensively. “Along with several remarks on his perverted character and junk food addiction.”

Mitsuko chuckled softly. “Yeah, he was a mess.” She smiled fondly. “But he was a good teacher, and we’ll never have anyone like him.”

Her brother stayed silent and held her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, cradling the plastic knife against her chest.

* * *

“Wait…” Araki stared at the newspaper in alarm while they were in homeroom. “You guys…you actually sued your dad?”

Mitsuko shared a smirk while they sat together at their desks at the front of the classroom. “Well, duh.” Her smirk stretched into a grin. “We gotta get all the money we can get!”

Ren, Seo, Koyama, and Araki shared looks of concern as they were huddled around their desks, the rest of A-Class trying not to seem obvious as they listened.

“And lawyers are expensive,” her brother commented, placing his books on his desk.

Karma scoffed, walking in with his black tie low and navy blue blazer flung over his shoulder. “You barely got enough compensation.” He casually sat on Gakushuu’s desk; earning a glare. “They only sued him for 2 Million yen.”

“ONLY?!!” Koyama nearly choked.

Gakushuu tried stabbed Karma with a pencil. “Get off my desk!”

Karma barely flinched and rolled his eyes. “Okay, drama queen.” He whacked him with his blazer. “Don’t need to be a prick.”

Mitsuko laughed while her brother growled at Karma who had sat down in his desk next to Gakushuu’s. “We only asked for 2 Million because we were being nice.” She shrugged. “We could have gotten more but…” She shrugged. “Koro-sensei said it isn’t good to kick a man when he’s already down.”

A tiny flicker of grief flashed across Karma’s face for a second before it was hidden with a smirk. “I feel he would have made an exception.”

“Uh, didn’t you say he always kissed the Principal’s ass though?” Seo asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mitsuko smiled faintly. “Yeah, he did…” There was a pause. “Anyway. Our dad’s already trying to avoid more lawsuits from parents and people he pissed off.” She shrugged. “So he’s sold off the rest of those prison schools he built with the government bribes.”

Gakushuu sighed. “It is a huge financial loss for him. He’s had to invest more with the stocks, so he’s only got 1 million yen in the main account and fifteen million yen in one of the hedge funds overseas.”

“More specifically it’s ten million yen in the hedge fund and fifteen million scattered in other offshore accounts,” Mitsuko corrected. “He transferred some of the bribery money in there before Christmas.”

“Uh…” Their friends’ concern turned to annoyance.

“Wow…I’m so sorry for your loss.” Araki didn’t sound sorry when he said it.

Karma nearly snorting up his strawberry milk while he sipped it through the straw. “Yeah, sounds like a real struggle, guys.”

Her brother rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, either way, we have the money we want so I’m satisfied.” He shrugged. “It means things are more…settled between us.”

Ren smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “That’s good then.”

“…You still sure you don’t want me to shove spices up his nose?” Karma asked, frowning.

Gakushuu sighed loudly. “For the last time, no!”

Karma looked disappointed. “Why not?”

The six of them all shared exasperated looks.

* * *

Mitsuko shifted awkwardly in her seat, glancing at the table next to them where their social worker, Mrs Ichiko, was keeping an eye on her and Gakushuu while they were sat having coffee with their father.

Mrs Ichiko was nice, practical and very serious, while also never being condescending. She was around the same age as their parents and she always dressed in loose comfy clothes which looked soft. Sometimes she gave them mints after driving them home from visiting their dad somewhere in public.

“So…” Dad spoke after a long silence, smiling at Mitsuko. “I assume you’re enjoying your winnings from the government.”

She nodded. “Yeah…I bought us an apartment…”

Dad’s smile tightened. “That’s your mother’s job not yours.”

Mitsuko shrugged, stirring her latter. “It’s fine. I wanted to.”

Her brother grimaced, sipping his coffee. “It’s a nice apartment.”

Dad’s smile wavered more, but he didn’t comment further and drank his coffee.

“I put the rest away for college and for some future investments,” she said, smiling. “Me and Gakushuu are monitoring the current bond values.”

Her brother nodded. “I’ve been studying the financial patterns that lead to each global recession and think I’ve worked out a formula which would be 65% accurate.”

Their social worker stopped writing and smiled slightly as she shook her head.

Mrs Ichiko was used to these kinds of talks now, she'd even managed to rope her into a conversation on how Ritsu was going to take over the world with AI. The woman had seemed a little scared at first but eventually she'd found it funny. 

Mitsuko flashed her a grin before turning back to their dad. “We would still appreciate some pointers and feedback on the proposed formula—we have notes.”

Dad smiled faintly. “Of course, I’d love to.”

Gakushuu’s smile was crooked. “We might even use the compensation money we won to start investing.”

Their dad sighed. “You do realise I’m taking that out of your inheritance, correct?”

Her brother’s smile grew. “Then we’ll just have to sue you for more.” He looked over at their social worker. “How much more do you think we can get out of him, Mrs Ichiko?”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “No comment.”

Mitsuko laughed while their dad looked annoyed. “That means we probably could get more.”

Dad sighed in exasperation. “You two are…” He shook his head and drank his coffee. “How is your mother?”

She shrugged again. “She’s fine.”

“Good…” Dad tapped his mug. “I’m glad.”

Mitsuko chewed on her tongue, glancing at her brother hesitantly. “So…have you fed my fish?”

“Yes,” he replied impatiently.

She frowned. “And checked he PH levels and Nitrate—”

“Yes, Mitsuko, they are fine,” dad replied in exasperation. “Everything is fine. The housekeeper has made it her personal duty to make sure they are well kept.”

“Oh…” Mitsuko smiled in relief. “Well, good.”

Dad shook his head. “If you were that worried you should have brought them with you.”

“It would have stressed them out!” Mitsuko replied, scowling. “Plus the tank might have gotten cracked in the move so it’s just easier leaving them in my room.” She sighed. “Plus they only have a max two years left until they die so I’m trying to keep them alive as long as possible.”

He discreetly rolled his eyes. “Well, they are fine. I check on them daily.” His brow furrowed. “I’m sure it won’t be long until you’re allowed to stay over and look after them more.”

Mitsuko and Gakushuu both shared an unsure look.

The court has said their dad had to attend ten weeks of therapy at a minimum and it had only been five weeks.

“We still need to wait for the review next week,” Mrs Ichiko said evenly, looking at him pointedly like he wasn’t meant to get their hopes up.

“…Of course.” Dad’s voice was clipped, giving a cold look to the woman. “I’m aware.”

Mitsuko shifted in her seat again, growing uncomfortable again. She could understand he was frustrated at not being able to see them whenever he wanted; she gathered as much from the constant calls and texting. But, Mrs Ichiko was just doing her job, and he was lucky they were even getting any contact at all after what Dr Yokoyama had told child services.

“So…” Mitsuko forced a smile. “How have you been?”

“Quite well,” dad replied evenly. “I’ve been catching up with my old students. I have a lot more spare time now so I’ve been using it productively.”

“So you’re setting your sights on world domination next?” She asked dryly.

Mrs Ichiko looked up in alarm while their dad chuckled.

“Nothing so dramatic.” Dad smiled. “I might consider opening another school—”

Mrs Ichiko scribbled something quickly on her notebook; partly horrified.

“—but it would be smaller.” He half-shrugged, drinking the rest of his coffee. “Something less…”

“Fascist?”

Gakushuu arched a brow. “Corrupt?”

“A personification of your grief and personal prejudice?” Mitsuko commented.

Dad sighed, ignoring them. “ _Less conglomerate_. I want to cater to each students’ strengths and weaknesses.” He looked at them both. “You two have made me realise one teaching method can’t be applied to all students and reel the same result.”

“I’m still surprised they’re letting you teach?” her brother commented.

Mitsuko frowned. “How the hell did you manage to keep your licence?”

Dad smiled politely, tapping his nose. “Well, it helps to have friends in high places, even if some of them have turned tail and run.”

“I’m still pegging it on blackmail,” she said, sighing. “Just promise you won’t treat your next batch of students as Guinee pigs for your educational philosophy.”

Dad chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry, I won’t.”

Both she and Gakushuu couldn’t fully bring themselves to believe that.

* * *

“So, try to think of it in basic terms,” Mitsuko advised Juba while she helped him study during their break in-between classes while they were in homeroom. “I compartmentalise it first and then break down each number to it’s simplest component, makes it way easier.”

“Thanks.” Juba smiled at her, going through the sum. “I get the majority of it, I just keep second-guessing.”

She smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, I know how that feels.” She patted him on the back. “You’ll do fine at midterms, maths is your best subject.”

“Wow, this makes middle school look easy, right?” Anaya joked, smiling. “The grade barrier really is high, huh?”

65% of Class A all stopped and looked at the girl who had attended a different middle school to them

“…I’m sorry, what?” Mitsuko stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Their lessons were normal paced, they had ten-minute bathroom breaks, and their test questions weren’t even college level.

_It was paradise!_

Anaya frowned, adjusting her glasses and looking around when the majority of the class was staring. “Well…I mean this work is really hard, considering we’re only in the first year of high school.” She smiled sheepishly. “Makes me miss middle school!”

There was a long pause.

“You think…. _this_ …is hard?” Seo said slowly.

Araki snapped his pencil.

“Uh…” Anaya’s eyes widened, looking at her friend who looked scared. “…Yes?”

A majority of the class exploded.

“YOU THINK THIS IS HARD!?”

Mitsuko yelped as her classmates unloaded.

“—You think THIS is hard?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!—”

“Let me tell you—”

“—My skin was fucking Purple—”

“I didn’t shower for two weeks—”

“—I still have nightmares—”

“—I WAS SO EXHAUSTED I LOOKED LIKE A ZOMBIE!!—"

They looked like they were having war flashbacks, while the minority of Class A was staring at them in shock and confusion. 

“Guy’s stop!” Mitsuko rushed over to stand in-between them and the girl. “SHE DOESN’T KNOW!”

Anaya shook in horror. “What the hell?!”

Gakushuu sighed and tried to focus on studying.

Karma sipped his strawberry milkshake as he watched the chaos ensue.

* * *

Mitsuko stumbled a bit when she climbed through her girlfriend’s window, frowning when she saw how easy it was to open.

“You really should lock this.”

Rio turned around from her wardrobe and jumped. “Mitsuko!”

She smiled innocently. “What?”

Her girlfriend looked exasperated. “Just use the door!”

Mitsuko shrugged and stepped in the room. “I thought you wanted things to be more spontaneous?”

Rio buried her face in her palm. “For the love of…”

She grinned and kissed her cheek before plopping down on the bed. “I wanted to surprise you!”

“Wow, thanks.” Rio sighed, sitting down next to her on the bed. “I’m gonna start locking that window since you think being a creep is romantic.”

Mitsuko blushed. “It’s not creepy!”

Rio threw a pillow at her. “Yes, it is.”

“Whatever.” She whacked her with the pillow.

“Isn’t your mom gonna wonder where you are? It’s like ten.” Rio looked at the time and frowned.

Mitsuko smiled excitedly. “I know! I snuck out.” She jumped up and down on the bed. “It’s so easy to sneak out now from the new apartment!”

Rio sighed, shaking her head. “Well, as much as I love your dance on the wild side, I still need to get up for school tomorrow.”

“I know! Don’t worry I won’t stay long,” Mitsuko promised, still smiling excitedly. “I just thought it’d be fun.”

Rio started to look amused, resting against the headboard. “Well, it is cute.”

Mitsuko cuddled up next to her. “It’s still kind of weird, but it’s nice not having dad watching my every move all the time.” She glanced at her phone which was turned off. “He still stalks me a lot with the parenting app but it’s not so bad. It’s nice having…space.”

“Good.” Rio smiled faintly, burying her face in her neck. “And…I am happy you visited,” she murmured. “It’s kind of weird not seeing you every day at school.”

Mitsuko hummed, closing her eyes as she nestled her face in her soft hair. “I miss you a lot too.” She smiled softly. “I tell people about you at school…and show them pictures.”

“Really?” Rio looked faintly surprised.

“Of course!” she replied held her close. “Plus it’s nice making the boys jealous at how hot my girlfriend is.”

Rio rolled her eyes but was still smiling. “My friend’s think you’re cute—though I did have to dunk one asshole’s head down the toilet when he said something.”

Mitsuko frowned. “What did he say?”

“Just something stupid and homophobic—not worth repeating.” Rio nuzzled her cheek before kissing her. “Had to set an example.”

“Well it’s better than pepper spray,” Mitsuko replied, shrugging. “I haven’t had any real issues…” She frowned. “Though there was one student who mysteriously disappeared after gave me a dirty look after I said I had a girlfriend.”

“Karma or your brother probably killed him,” Rio said seriously.

Mitsuko hummed, rubbing her chin. “I do have concerns…”

Rio smirked. “No seriously, you should probably set your story straight before the police catch on,” she warned. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Ritsu helped them form a plan to hide the body.”

She laughed. “Probably!”

Her girlfriend yawned and nestled close to her as Mitsuko started to stroke her hair. “Or he might have transferred schools. Honestly, it’s 50/50 with those two.”

Mitsuko chuckled. “True…” She smiled as she watched her relax. “It’s nice though. I’m lucky I have a lot of people looking out for me.”

“Yeah,” Rio murmured, closing her eyes. “It’s nice.”

She leaned down and gently kissed her forehead. “…Love you.”

Rio’s eyes eased open, looking up as a small smile crept onto her face. “I love you too.”

* * *

Mitsuko kept shifting excitedly in the back seat, her backpack on her lap while she sat next to her brother. Mom pulled up near their dad’s house…well technically it was still heir house but…

She sighed and decided not to think much of it.

Mom took a deep breath when she pulled up near the driveway. “So…” She fidgeted and looked over her shoulder. “You remember what the social worker—”

“Yes!” Both Gakushuu and Mitsuko interrupted impatiently.

“We’re not five, mom, we can remember simple guidelines,” he replied curtly.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine!” Mitsuko rolled her eyes. “This is our first 48 hours with dad, he’s not going to ruin it by trying to poison us or locking us in a closet.”

“He’s not a complete idiot,” Gakushuu commented dryly.

Mom scowled. “I just want to make sure!” She huffed. “If at any point you want to leave just call me or the social worker, okay? Promise me.”

“Yes!” The two of them replied in exasperation, already undoing their seatbelts.

“Well do you have everything you need?” Mom asked quickly as they were trying to leave. “Did you remember your toothbrush?”

“Yes, mom.” Gakushuu grabbed his bag.

Mom was still frowning. “Well, okay then….”

“Make sure you have a good weekend, okay,” Mitsuko said.

Mom blushed slightly. “O-oh, yes, I will. I’m just going to meet a friend so that will be nice.”

Mitsuko and her brother raised an eyebrow.

“What?!” Mom’s cheeks heated up. “What’s that look for! It’s just a friend!”

“Of course.” Mitsuko kissed her mom on the cheek. “Have a good weekend. Love you.”

Mom’s smile grew. “Love you!”

Gakushuu looked embarrassed and kissed his mom on the cheek. “Love you too…”

Mom pinched his cheek before he could escape. “Oh, sweetie!”

“Stop!” He scowled and whacked her hand away, quickly following Mitsuko out of the car.

* * *

Mitsuko yawned, nearly falling asleep against her dad while Gakushuu took his turn looking through the telescope.

“Seriously, why so early!?” she complained.

Dad smiled and patted her on the head. “It’s not that early.”

“It’s 4am!”

He chuckled and passed her the flask. “Have some coffee then.”

She grumbled, taking the flask and having a large gulp of coffee. “Thanks.” The caffeine did give her a pleasant boost of energy.

Dad hummed, resting a hand on her head while she yawned again and nestled close to his side. “So how is school for you both?”

Gakushuu hummed, looking over his shoulder. “Well, I am coming close to murdering Akabane.”

Dad chuckled. “Ah, I see.”

Mitsuko rolled her eyes. “Karma’s barely even done anything recently.”

“He spiked my coffee with chilis!” her brother complained.

She shrugged. “He was experimenting with the flavour.”

Gakushuu glared at her. “He’s so annoying!”

“Yeah, I know.” She wandered over to the telescope. “But he’s also kind of hilarious.”

Her brother groaned in frustration and moved to the side while she looked up at the stars. “If he keeps testing me, I will maim him. I’m not afraid to stab a man.”

“Gakushuu…” Their dad cautioned.

“…It’s not like I’d be stupid enough to get caught.”

Dad sighed but didn’t comment further.

Mitsuko rolled her eyes, looking up. “No offence, Dad, but you have no right to judge.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “We all know you’ve probably hidden a dead body once.”

“What?!” Dad nearly spat out his coffee. “No, I haven’t.”

Gakushuu scoffed. “We highly doubt that.”

She grinned, straightening up. “Yeah, you’re way too sketchy, and you’re always told us growing up not to get caught if we attack our classmates.”

Dad sighed. “That’s just common sense.” He frowned when they both shot him a look. “…In retrospect it also probably wasn’t the wisest of advice.” He looked annoyed. “And while I may possess some theory on the removal of a decomposing body—”

“Really not helping your case here,” she quipped.

“I’ve never taken part in the practical act aside from burying a cat,” dad replied irritably.

Gakushuu frowned. “You used to have a cat?”

Their dad tensed, causing them both to grow more curious. “…Yes, I did. When I was a child.”

“Oh.” Mitsuko tried to imagine her dad being friends with a cat. “You never told us that.”

Dad hummed, frowning faintly. “Yes, well…it was a stray that I just looked after. It wasn’t actually my pet.”

“What was it called?” her brother asked.

“Felis,” dad’s tone was stiff. “It was a nice cat.”

“I like the name…” She took the flask and sipped some more coffee while she and her brother stayed quiet and listened.

“Yes.” Their dad shifted on the spot, fiddling with the telescope. “…My mother worked a lot so I wasn’t allowed a real pet.”

Mitsuko chewed on her tongue hesitantly. “…Where did she work?”

“She was a nurse…she enjoyed it, well I assumed she did at least,” dad replied. “She tended to work nights.”

“…And what did your father do?” Gakushuu asked after a moment.

Dad stayed silent for a while making her start to worry. “I’m not sure…he left when I was young.”

“Oh.” Mitsuko’s eyes widened in surprise.

“…You never told us that,” Her brother said quietly.

“Yes, well he died twenty years ago so I hardly thought it mattered,” dad replied curtly, looking through the telescope. “Oh, look the moon is changing.”

“What?” she looked confused, stepping closer. “What do you mean?”

“The gravitational pull is reshaping it.” He nudged her towards the telescope.

Mitsuko looked through the lens, getting a clearer view of tiny chunks of the moon starting to fray away as the shape twisted a little. “Oh, you’re right.”

“It looks like it’s breaking apart again,” dad explained. “Which means it might turn back to its regular shape, albeit smaller.”

“Let me see.” Gakushuu looked while she moved to the side. “Huh. It does look like it’s curving inwards.”

Mitsuko stomach twisted a little when she imagined the crescent moon going back to normal. “That’s…that’s good, I guess.”

“So…” Her brother looked back at their dad curiously. “If your mom was working, what did you do?”

“Oh, I just kept busy,” dad replied a little too quickly. “I studied a lot, kept the house nice. There were plenty of things to do.”

Mitsuko hummed, sharing a look with her brother. “Sounds busy…”

“I suppose so.” Dad shrugged. “I don’t really think about it much.”

She smiled gently and patted him on the back. “Well, it’s nice that you’re sharing.”

He stared at the two of them for a moment before smiling and pulling them both into a hug.

She and her brother both looked confused by the sudden burst of affection. “Uh…”

“Yes, this is nice.” Dad held them tight. “I missed this.”

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow, while Mitsuko looked concerned.

“…Uh, we…we missed this too, dad,” she reassured warmly, patting his arm. “And if you keep doing well in therapy, social services says we’ll be able to hang out more.” She smiled up at him. “Don’t worry.”

Her brother gently squeezed his hand. “It’ll be fine.”

Their dad sighed, keeping hold of them a while longer. “Of course, you’re right.”

“Obviously,” Gakushuu replied, smiling faintly. “We already keep telling you that.”

Mitsuko chuckled, pulling her dad’s arm closer around her.

* * *

Mitsuko tapped her foot against the rail of the bridge as people passed by around her.

_In retrospect, it did look like a really deep drop…_

“Hey!” Ritsu popped up on her phone and grinned. “Guess what I did!”

She smirked and leant against the railing. “Does it involve world domination and revenge?”

“Not quite, but close.” Ritsu smiled wickedly and pulled up a video of scientists panicking in a lab as everything was malfunctioning. “I hacked into my old Masters’ servers.”

Mitsuko burst out laughing, earning some looks from stranger’s passers-by. “Oh, shit, you actually did it!”

Ritsu laughed. “I even played all the rude songs they made me sing when they were drunk!” Her laugh was diabolical. “They were quite terrified of what was happening.”

“Beautiful.” Mitsuko blew her a kiss. “Post the recording on the chat, the others need to see this.”

“Will do!” She winked, jumping up and down excitedly. “I even got the sponsor arrested for peddling pension funds from the company!” She grinned. “And it’s only been 24 hrs!”

Mitsuko looked amused. “Try to check if any of them are dealing with countries that break government regulations—that’s always a kicker.”

Ritsu gave a thumbs up. “Good idea!”

She smiled back, looking up when she heard a voice in the distance call her name. “Oh, got to go, Ritsu. Talk later?”

“Sure.” The AI’s smile grew. “Have fun.”

Mitsuko smiled faintly and put her phone away when she saw Sugaya wave and walk over; dressed in his new green and black high school uniform with a sketchbook under his arm.

“Hey,” she greeted, adjusting the bag over her shoulder. “You ready to hit the museum?”

He grinned. “Yep, I brought extra pencils.” He flashed her pink pen. “And my lucky pen.”

She smirked and started walking along the bridge. “I’ll sell you another for 10,000 yen.”

“Stop raising the price!”

“I told you, it’s extra because it has supernatural abilities.” She chuckled. “And that pen got you through midterms and finals. If that isn’t world-altering then I don’t know what more proof you need.”

Sugaya sighed, shaking his head. “Whatever, dude. I’m still not paying that much.”

She linked arms with him. “Fair enough, I’ll just wait until you’re desperate and raise the price.”

He rolled his eyes and kept his comments to himself.

Mitsuko smiled, feeling light on her feet as they walked into the city and left the bridge behind.

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: What a God damn ride! Well it's over folks, so thanks again for all the suppot and comments. I appreciate it. 
> 
> I don't have any sequels planned for this, there might be the possibility of the odd One-shot maybe in the future but I make no promises. 
> 
> I loved writing this story so I hope I took you on a roller coaster of emotions, and got a decent message across about the ups and downs of coming out in your teens while you have a less than ideal homelife. 
> 
> So I hope this was relatable enough for people going through similiar situations and that it helped in some way or another. 
> 
> Until next time~~


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